


(see you) on the other side

by shoelaces



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Clarke made it to the rocket, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Jasper survived AU, M/M, Minor John Murphy/Emori, Minor Raven Reyes/Luna, poor understanding of science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-11-17 01:25:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11265084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shoelaces/pseuds/shoelaces
Summary: Clarke goes to space as planned.Instead, Jasper wakes up on the rover 2,199 days after Praimfaya.A fix-it fic, canon-divergent from 411.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i cried when jasper died and when clarke woke up on that rover in the time jump i decided it should have been him
> 
> then i wrote the thing
> 
> i don't know enough science for this to be in any way accurate, but this is entirely for my own soul so whatever

Jasper wakes up to the familiar sound of light rain on the hood of the rover. It’s only been normal rain for just under a year now, and he’d forgotten how much he missed it, even though he’d only had it for 198 days on Earth before Praimfaya. He’s got into the habit of counting the days, how long it’s been since everything that led up to this.

Six years, six months, and seven days since he landed on Earth for the first time.

Two thousand, two hundred and one days since Monty left him at the window bay. He can’t hold that against him. Monty thought he was dead, which is fair enough, because he was supposed to be.

There’s no point dwelling on that.

He jumps down from the hood of the rover, careful to be quiet as he drops his notebook onto a seat and picks up the dish and his radio. It’s still early and he doesn’t want to disturb its occupants.

Balancing himself on a log and staring up at the sky, Jasper starts the same old routine he’s been doing since he was well enough to sit up. “Monty,” he begins. “Day 2,199! I don’t know if you guys are keeping count up there, but that’s 6 years and 7 days since Praimfaya. Correct me if I’m wrong,” he pauses for a second, aware of the irony, “but I’m pretty sure I remember you saying Earth would be safe after 5 years.” He pulls at a loose thread on his cardigan. “So, where are you? You better hurry up, or I’ll be forced to assume you didn’t make it up there. All I have proof of is that Becca’s rocket left, and that 8 of you were in it. Just a call back would be nice, I guess?” He wants to say more, apologise for what he’d said the day before when the weather had been kind of shitty and dragged his mood down. If Monty heard that, it might be for the best he hasn’t come down yet.

Jasper is trying to figure out how best to phrase this explanation when he hears a boom that shakes the ground, and nearly falls off his log. He cranes his neck to get a better vantage point, and try and see what’s going on up there.

His heart nearly stops when he sees a tiny black dot hurtling towards Earth. He flies to his feet, a tiny surprised laugh escaping. “Never mind,” he says to the radio. “I see you.”

Then he’s hurtling back to the rover at full speed, which is still not very impressive. The rover’s back doors are open, and he jumps in and starts shaking the piles of blankets on the floor in a way that he knows drives them mad. “Madi! Luna! _Gyon op_!”

Luna sits up straight away. Grounders tend to be light sleepers, he’s learnt. She’s about to say something to him when she hears the noise outside. Her eyes widen, and Jasper nods at her, grinning. When Madi sits up a few moments later, bleary eyed, she takes a few seconds longer to process. The second she does, her eyes go wide with excitement and she hops out of the rover, disappearing quickly around the side. Jasper smiles fondly at her, remembering the day they found her.  
***  
**Day 396**  
_Jasper is clattering about a little ungracefully as they search for edible plants. As ALIE had promised, 4% of the planet was habitable, and he wonders idly as he combs through the undergrowth if she had led Jaha to this area on purpose. The air is still ridiculously hot and clammy, and the Nightblood must be a factor in their survival, but he’s fairly sure that this must be some of the 4%. Lost in his thoughts, he almost misses the trampled plants and the footprint in the soil._

_He frowns as he sees it, trying to figure out a way that it could possibly be anything other than what it looks like. “Luna?” he calls, eyes fixed on the ground, “have you already been over here?”_

_She frowns and approaches. They’re still not exactly chatty with each other, but Jasper feels fairly certain that she likes him enough for him to be able to ask stupid questions sometimes. “That’s too small to be my foot,” she tells him. “This is recent.” Even she can’t hide the note of hope in her voice as Jasper’s mouth drops open. “Someone’s alive nearby. A child.”_

_Jasper’s on his feet in an instant. “Hello?” he calls, trying to make his voice as reassuring as possible. “We’re not going to hurt you!” His Trigedasleng is still far from perfect, so he speaks English in the hope that the kid will understand, or at least recognise his tone of voice. Luna, who clearly has less faith in that plan than him, translates as she scans the area._

_As Jasper crouches to search for more footprints, he hears Luna gasp. When he looks up, she’s crouched by a clump of bushes near the trees. He hurries over, trying to be a little lighter on his feet. When he sees what she sees, he understands her gasp._

_A girl who can’t be any older than 8 is huddled in the bushes, staring at them with wide eyes. Before he can stop himself, Jasper reaches for her arm and she pulls away, terrified. “No, shh.” Luna cuts in, much better with children. “You’re okay.”_

_Jasper follows her lead. “Ai laik Jasper kom-” he pauses for a second, having never had to put this to use before, and makes a decision. “Jasper kom Flokru.”_

_Luna freezes for a second, then relaxes and looks at him in a way he can’t quite interpret. He forgets sometimes that she’s not that much older than he is. “Luna kom Flokru,” she adds softly. “What’s your name?”_

_“Madi,” the girl says quietly, her voice hoarse. She shifts a bit, leaning towards them, and Jasper sees a graze on her knee that is jet black. That explains how she survived, he guesses._

_“_ _Hello, Madi,” he says, holding out a hand. “Let’s find you something to eat.”_

***

Luna looks hesitant to follow Madi, which is fair, based on what she’s told Jasper about everything that went down whilst he was in Arkadia. She gestures for him to go, and he doesn’t hesitate. They live in the one spot of green for as far as they can see, and they’re not all that far from Becca’s lab. If Raven can aim the ship right, his friends are going to land close by. “Jasper?” Madi calls from somewhere near the front of the rover, and he makes an ‘mm hmm’ noise as he scans the ground for where they might land. “I thought you said their ship was small?”

“Yeah, it’s tiny.” Jasper ignores the confusion in her voice. “No idea how they got so many people in there.”

Madi doesn’t reply, instead staring up at the sky, eyebrows knitted together. Jasper finally squints up at the clouds to see what the fuss is about.

It makes sense straight away. The ship is huge, bigger even than the dropship that had brought them down in the first place. There’s no way his friends are on that thing. He tries to ignore the sinking pit of disappointment in his stomach as the ship flies towards Earth. “Madi,” he says quietly, “Can you get my rifle?” She nods and flees back to the rover. Jasper hears a stream of Trigedasleng from inside, then Luna exits, handing him the gun.

“She’s staying in there,” she tells him. “I’m not risking her.”

Jasper nods, eye to the lens. “That’s fair.”

“Jasper? If you can, don’t kill them.” Luna looks at him, sadness in her eyes. Six years alone on Earth and peaceful people to begin with, neither of them want bloodshed today. He gives her a look that he hopes is reassuring and then focuses on the ship again as they retreat into the treeline.

_Prisoner transport. Eligius._

Jasper’s breath catches in his throat. An eerie sense of deja vu takes over as he tries to figure out exactly who could possibly be on this ship. There were no prisoners left on the Ark, and he doesn’t remember any being transported anywhere in his lifetime.

Whoever is piloting the ship has better control than their dropship did, because it lands surprisingly softly in the valley. No one will come straight up the hill, he guesses. Earth takes time to adjust to, he remembers that.

This time, he’s the grounder. He even looks the part with loose braids in his hair and the symbol of Flokru tattooed on his shoulder. The only indication that he is in fact, from the Ark, are the goggles resting on the top of his head. He hadn’t had a lot to do in those 6 years after it was safe to go outside, so he feels he can justify returning to Arkadia to get them hadn’t been a complete waste of time.

Jasper wonders briefly if it’s worth trying to get through to the bunker again. He has no idea who’s actually in there, if any of them are alive at all. Besides, even if he could get a message to them, they’re trapped under the rubble, which is really no help at all.

He must have been biting his lip, because blood wells up at the corner of his mouth. He wipes it away distractedly. Being one of only three people still on the ground, he hasn’t really had a chance to get used to it being black yet. That had been a bit of a shock.

Luna gestures to the rover. “We could leave the area,” she tells him. “The second they see this, they’ll know there are survivors nearby.”

Voices suddenly start to carry up the hill. “Too late,” Jasper says grimly. Madi has locked the doors of the rover, so she’ll be safe in there. If it comes to it, he and Luna can fight.

The group start emerging not far from them. They are significantly older than the 100, Jasper would guess most are in their 30s. All of them wear plain grey prisoner clothes.

All except two.

When Jasper leans forward to see what the group are clumping around, the whole world stops. They have two prisoners of their own. One is a girl with a grounder tattoo on her face, who is glowering at her captors. The other, head down, shoulders hunched, is Monty.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome back to the fic where the word counts are inconsistent and canon doesn't matter
> 
> we're going back 6 years now to see monty's perspective on things
> 
> jasper's suicide (attempt) is talked about a lot here as well as monty's own issues

When they arrive on the Ark and Clarke finishes bandaging his hands the best she can, Monty goes to bed. Well, so does everyone, but Monty doesn’t get up for 3 days, so he considers this a bit more of an event. It’s not like he’s sleeping brilliantly, so he mostly just lies about. Harper comes in on the first afternoon (not that it feels like afternoon, because everything is so bloody dark) and tries to encourage him to come and eat with the others. When he refuses, she kisses his forehead and he thinks she’s pretending not to notice the way his whole body tenses up at the contact.

 

She must have told everyone what was going on, because Bellamy and Clarke stop by a few hours later, awkward and apologetic. They try to talk about Jasper but Monty covers his ears awkwardly with his elbows because he still can’t move his hands and refuses. Everyone keeps coming to bother him, and he finds himself weirdly grateful for Echo, who only sticks her head in to make sure he’s still breathing, never trying any uncomfortable conversation.

 

On Day 4 (out of 1825) he decides he’s had enough of the tiny room and heads out to join the group. They’re sat around a table playing cards, and when they see him, they jump as if he’s a ghost before relaxing. “Hey, Monty!” Bellamy is smiling for the first time in a while. “We can start again if you want to play.” Monty holds up his hands to indicate that he couldn’t even if he wanted to, but takes a seat next to Clarke to watch. Echo isn’t playing either, and she surveys him quietly across the table. She isn’t the only one. Harper keeps glancing over like she wants to say something, but not in front of the others. Naturally, this means Monty is going to ensure he’s not alone with her for a little while. He doesn’t really join in with the chatting, but he gives answers when they ask him direct questions, and this is a big enough step that it seems to stop them worrying for a few days.

 

He’s glad for the break from constant surveillance until he has to go and screw it up again. On Day 7, when he realises it’s only been a week, he lapses back into ‘the bad stuff’ as he had accidentally overheard Raven calling it. He had found a pen on the floor earlier, and although it had started as doodling, he quickly gets bad.

 

When Murphy walks into his room to get him for something or other, he frowns at the wall next to Monty’s bed, covered in names. “Um,” he says. “What’s this, then?”

 

“These are the people I killed.” Monty replies, staring up at the wall full of scrawled names and realising this may have been a terrible idea.

 

“Ah, shit.” Murphy sighs eloquently, taking a step closer. He frowns at the wall. “Mount Weather, huh?”

 

Monty closes his eyes. “I engineered it.”

 

“You had to,” Murphy replies. “I heard what happened in there.” There’s a long pause as Murphy scans the wall, and Monty stands awkwardly behind him before Murphy turns around. “Monty,” he says quietly. “Jasper’s name should not be on here.”

 

“I should have done something,” Monty replies, trying to stop his voice from shaking. “And it was my fault he was like that in the first place.”

 

Murphy clearly senses that there is no point in arguing this one, but shakes his head. “Fine. You do you. I don’t even know why your mother’s name is here, but I’m assuming that’s not straightforward.” Monty glares weakly at the mention of his mother. That’s still too sore a wound to even address. “Okay, dude, give me the pen.”

 

Monty really doesn’t want to hand it over, but he doesn’t have a choice. He’s expecting Murphy to leave with it, but instead he takes the cap off. “Mind if I write on this wall?” He gestures to the wall on the other side of the room. Monty shakes his head. He’s made enough of a mess already. Murphy turns and writes the names of all the people up on the Ark. “You risked your life taking your gloves off to get that dish,” he tells Monty. “So you saved all of us.” Then, he writes another set of names. Monty can’t see all of them, but he sees Octavia Blake, Abby Griffin, and Thelonius Jaha. “You found the bunker,” Murphy continues. “So there’s that. He adds ‘+1200’ on Monty’s wall. “I think there are more, but I couldn’t name them.” Monty nods, throat feeling tight. “Stop being a downer. Come and help me and Emori find some wires and shit, we don’t understand Raven’s list.” Monty follows Murphy out the door. When he returns to his room, the wall by his bed has been wiped clean, leaving only the wall of people he saved. He thinks some names have been added, but he can’t be sure.

 

In retrospect, the crazy list writing might actually have been a symptom, because he wakes up the next morning with a fever so bad he can barely move. His head is splitting and he can’t quite remember why he’s in space again.

 

Raven comes to find him not long after that, and in his haze, he realises that she thinks he’s overdosed on something as she tries to rouse him before screaming for the others. In the panic of the next few minutes (well, everyone else is panicking, he’s just sort of lying there) Monty wonders why he would overdose. It seems like something to nap on and remember later, but when he closes his eyes, Clarke shakes him awake again. “Monty, you need to stay awake, okay?” In the background, Raven is shouting at Emori and Murphy, asking how he’d been acting yesterday. They’re shouting back, asking what he could have taken, and how he found it. Monty is slightly offended that they’ve been hiding the medicines, especially given that he hasn’t actually taken anything.

 

Clarke’s hand is cool on his forehead and he can feel her checking his pulse. Bellamy is holding his hand and it kind of hurts, but he can’t tell him that. “I don’t think he took anything,” Clarke says, relief evident in her voice. “Fevers are common after severe burns.”

 

“Thank God,” Harper says, and Monty opens his eyes to look at her, then at Jasper, who is standing in the corner. That doesn’t make much sense, he thinks, but he’s glad to see him.

 

“I’m sorry,” he croaks.

 

“What for?” Harper asks, not understanding that he’s talking to Jasper.

 

“I let you die!” Monty manages, tear slipping out of his eye. Bellamy winces, turning to look at Clarke, and Harper is biting her lip. Surprisingly, it’s Echo that steps up, probably because she doesn’t know who Jasper is, and also isn’t very nice, so it doesn’t really affect her.

 

“There’s no one there, Monty,” she says, and she’s right because Jasper is gone again. He’s too weak to sit up or cry, so he just stays where he is, eyes closed, tears running down his face.

 

Bellamy carries him out to the med bay where Clarke gives him a tiny dose of the medicine she had found, and Murphy wipes the sweat and tears from his face. It takes two days before he’s out of the woods, and he sees Jasper again three times. The first time, Bellamy is there, and Monty cries into his shoulder as he rocks him back and forth like a baby. By the second time, he’s learnt not to speak when he sees him.

 

Once he recovers enough to eat and sit up, no one broaches the topic of what has happened.

 

Things actually kind of improve after that, although he’s still not doing well by a long shot. The others spend so much time in his room that he thinks he’s probably on some sort of suicide watch that they won’t outright tell him about. He tells Raven one day that he is definitely not going to kill himself because they need him to get back to Earth. She tells him that he’s not on suicide watch, but looks kind of relieved. Harper shows up and they talk a lot, but she doesn’t try to kiss him and he never asks about it. Monty thinks they’ve probably broken up.

 

When he gets sick of his room, especially now that they’ve taken his pen away, he goes to the window bay. It’s not the exact same one he used to sit at with Jasper, but it’s similar enough that the first time he goes there, he cries for an hour. ‘On Which Planet Would You Rather’ is kind of a crappy game now, because Earth is never the answer, and it’s not as fun to play on his own.

 

Emori finds him there one day, thankfully after he’s been coming there long enough to not cry. “Hi, Monty,” she says. They haven’t really talked a lot, but Monty quite likes her. “How are your hands?”

 

“The right one is getting better,” he tells her. “Clarke says my left one was exposed too long.”

 

“That sucks,” she says simply.

 

“I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to help with the engineering stuff.”

 

“I can teach you,” she looks sincere, but also like she’s talking to someone made of glass. Monty’s getting really sick of this. “You can teach me engineering?”

 

“No, idiot. I can teach you how to work with one hand.”

 

“Oh.” Monty doesn’t really know how to reply to that. “Did Raven put you up to this?”

 

“Maybe I’m just tired of watching you mope about.”

 

Monty smiles a bit at that. It might not technically be the nicest thing for her to say, but lately, Harper’s avoidance of talking about their relationship and Bellamy’s slightly suffocating emotional support have been getting to him. The bluntness is kind of appreciated.

 

Emori helps a lot, and he ends up getting along quite well with her and Murphy, mostly because teaching him to work with one hand is a lot longer job than Emori had anticipated. Raven stops by one day whilst Monty tries to wire something small enough that it won’t kill them all if he fucks up. Her whoop of delight when he does it makes Monty jump and nearly break it. He grits his teeth and smiles as she apologises, but it quickly turns into a real smile as Bellamy, who had followed her in, starts to laugh in the doorway. Monty’s laugh verges on slightly hysterical sounding, but when Clarke, Harper, and Echo show up to see what the racket is about, they seem glad to see him happy.

 

He joins in more after that, although he still can’t quite play cards. They play in teams when he wants to join in, and Bellamy adopts him as a master of strategy fairly quickly. He’s even fairly glad that they eat algae because if it had been food that required fine motor control of cutlery, he’s not quite sure he could handle the awkwardness of asking his friends to feed him, even if Clarke is desperate to help however she can.

 

Monty is aware that the others aren’t exactly on top form. Raven is struggling with her leg in artificial gravity, and Bellamy misses his sister terribly. Despite all of them having their own issues, it’s Echo who seems to be struggling the most. Emori has been enchanted by space, but Echo seems terrified of it. She’s not dealing well with the enclosed space, and she doesn’t really have any friends to help her through it.

 

Monty mostly ends up being her friend by accident. Actually, he’s not sure they’re even friends, because if she had a way to betray him, she’d probably do it. She doesn’t, though, so they end up getting high in his room after he finds a stash of weed whilst looking for wires. Echo is new to this experience (“there’s no time for this if you’re a spy!”) and even though he still sort of hates her, he gains a lot of sympathy for her when her guard is down and she starts telling him what she really thinks about things. Her acting like an asshole kind of makes sense when she starts talking about her upbringing under Nia.

 

“I don’t know if I like this,” she says idly. “I can’t control myself.”

 

“Safer for me that way,” Monty says harshly. “Still don’t trust you.”

 

Echo laughs a bit at that. It’s an odd sound coming from her. “Fair,” she comments. “But you don’t talk to anyone here much.”

 

“I do!” he replies indignantly, but there’s no real malice anymore. He’s always been affectionate when he’s high, but Jasper was always the one who put up with the cuddling. He’s not quite sunk low enough to cuddle with Echo yet.

“Who’s Jasper?” Echo asks, and Monty laughs bitterly, but doesn’t reply. She doesn’t seem to notice this, and starts to tell him about what her ‘spy skills’ have picked up on. Something is going on between Bellamy and Clarke, she says, and Monty replies that this is nothing new. Bellamy spends a lot of time trying to radio his sister, and although there are sometimes distant frequencies, they’re not strong enough to communicate. Weirdly, some of them aren’t from the bunker. Echo seems curious, but Monty doesn’t really care. Anyone alive outside the bunker is lucky, but they have nothing to do with him.

 

The most interesting thing Echo tells him is that there’s a small section of the Ark that Raven has locked up and refused everyone entrance to. Monty had apparently missed this drama whilst he’d been staying in bed for the first few days. No one would tell Echo what was in there, only that she should steer clear. In the haze of drugs, he can’t quite wrap his mind around what they might be hiding.

He forgets about it fairly quickly, choosing to lie down and stare at the wall where he can still faintly see black smudges of ink where someone had wiped the names of the dead away. “I think I was in love with him,” he tells Echo, who doesn’t reply. The weirdness of this whole situation and the fact that he’s telling Echo of all people this, makes him laugh until he cries, and then just cries.

 

She doesn’t mention it the next day, probably because she doesn’t know what he was talking about, but there’s a sort of quiet understanding between them now.

 

The topic of the door Raven locked doesn’t come up for a long time. It seems to be a non-issue, so Monty doesn’t push it. He does notice that she won’t go anywhere near it, and one day, as he’s struggling to wire something on his own near the door, he calls her for help.

 

“No.” Raven says simply. “You can handle it. I’ll get Emori, she knows some tech stuff.”

 

“Okay, what is going on with you?” Monty sits up. “I can’t handle it, I basically have one hand, and Emori won’t know this stuff.”

 

“Talk her through it.” Raven says stiffly.

 

“What’s behind the door, Raven?”

 

Raven freezes. “I thought you didn’t know about that.”

 

“Echo told me.”

 

Raven sighs. “Of course she did.” She takes a deep breath. “Monty, all these doors are locked with computerised codes. They keep any foreign codes from entering the system.” He nods that he understands. “ALIE has uploaded herself here.” Raven finishes.

 

Monty feels himself go cold. “Oh,” he manages.

 

“She’s not a threat. I shut down the power, so currently there’s nothing there, but we can’t go in.”

 

A horrible thought strikes Monty. “It’s my fault,” he whispers. “Because I took too long deleting the code.” The look on Raven’s face tells him everything. “That’s why you never told me.”

 

“Monty-” He doesn’t hear the rest of what she says, because he is running down the corridor towards his room.

 

Unfortunately, because it’s just his luck, when he turns a corner, he finds Bellamy and Clarke kissing in front of the window. The slightly bewildered noise he makes attracts both their attention. “Geez, Monty-” Bellamy sounds like he’s about to tease him for walking in on them, but then he sees his face. “Oh, Monty.”

 

“I’m going, it’s fine.” Monty wipes his face with his sleeve and sets off.

 

“No, you’re not!” Clarke blocks his way easily. “Talk to us.”

 

“We’re worried about you.” Bellamy says earnestly, and Monty sighs, sliding down the cold glass to sit on the floor. Clarke and Bellamy take seats either side of him.

 

“Raven told me about ALIE,” he says, and he hears them take sharp breaths. “I’m sorry.”

 

Bellamy reaches up to stroke his hair. “Don’t be. It’s not a problem.”

 

“Is this really about ALIE?” Clarke asks, always one step ahead.

 

“It’s about everything,” Monty replies, and he doesn’t need to elaborate, because they know what he means. He sits with them for a while, not saying anything, although they try several times, then after assuring them multiple times that he’s going straight to find Raven, leaves them to get back to each other.

 

Raven is in the control room, looking anxious. “We couldn’t find you,” she tells him, and Monty turns to see Harper looking relieved. “I’m fine,” he says. “I was with Bellamy and Clarke.”

 

She nods. “I shouldn’t have told you like that.”

 

“Was there a better way?” He asks, with a rueful smile, and she shrugs. Then, “Can I borrow Harper for a while?” Raven looks over at Harper, who nods and follows Monty out into the halls.

 

“Hey, Monty,” she says softly.

 

“Hi,” he replies. “Look, I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

 

She smiles. “It’s okay. I just wasn’t sure where we stood.”

 

“I’m not mad at you,” he says. “But I can’t do...this anymore.” He gestures awkwardly between the two of them. “I didn’t think so,” she says simply.

 

“Jasper asked me to tell him I loved him,” Monty says. He’s never told anyone this before. It’s not much of an explanation, but Harper will know what it means. “I told him. But I think I was too late.”

 

“I guessed as much,” Harper admits, then wraps him in a hug. “I’m sorry, Monty.”

 

He doesn’t feel like crying anymore, so he just stands there with her in his arms and lets it all rise up in his chest. “You’re a great friend,” he tells her.

 

“I know that.”

 

After that, time on the Ark seems to start passing faster. As the 5 year mark gets closer, Raven starts to panic. With a few days left to go, she calls them all into the control room. “I don’t think I can get us all down,” she says, voice shaking.

 

“What?” Bellamy’s voice is hoarse. Clarke takes his hand.

 

“The rocket isn’t very strong, and we don’t have much fuel. I can get the rocket down, but my calculations say that with 8 of us,” she bites her lip. “There’s a chance that two wouldn’t survive the journey. We’re too much.”

 

Echo turns and leaves. Raven looks ready to cry. “I can’t see my sister?” Bellamy asks.

 

“I’m sorry,” Raven whispers.

 

Bellamy blinks hard and nods. “How do we fix it?”

 

They can’t. Another year passes, and Raven grows more and more withdrawn as Bellamy gets obsessed with fixing communications that have been broken since before they arrived. Monty is starting to give up hope.

 

Then, on day 2,199, a colossal bang wakes them up. Monty hurries out of his room to find everyone crowded together in the control centre. Raven, facing the computers, whispers, “Someone’s here.”

 

“Who? How?” Murphy furrows his brow. “Did the people in the bunker come up?”

 

“The ship is big,” Raven replies. “I’m trying to figure it out.” She turns back to the group. “There are security cameras near the airlocks. I hadn’t bothered with them before. Monty, Emori, would you be able to wire those?”

 

“You’re sending them out there with intruders on board?” Murphy looks angry. “We’re not risking them!”

 

“We don’t know they're intruders. And I don’t have any better ideas.”

 

“We’ll be fine, John.” Emori pecks his cheek. “Come on, Monty.”

 

So they head off together down the corridor. Monty is fairly certain anyone on board will be able to hear how fast his heart is beating. “Here!” Emori calls, and he’s about to turn to see the camera when the air is knocked out of his lungs as something hits him in the back. Emori cries out, then she goes quiet too. As a dark figure appears over him, Monty tries desperately to fight, but it’s useless with only one hand. Before he can get any leverage at all, the whole world goes black. The last thing he hears is a deep voice saying, “Time to go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're back to jasper next chapter but do you guys want more monty?
> 
> tumblr: spacekru-monty


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaand we're back with jasper on day 2199! thank you to all the lovely people who have left reviews, it really motivates me
> 
> enjoy!

Jasper makes a tiny gasping sound at the back of his throat and tightens his grip on the rifle. Luna turns to him. “Jasper, what is it?”

 

“That’s _Monty,”_ he whispers. “And I’d bet that other girl was on the Ark too.”

 

Luna swears. “How the hell did they get here? Where are the others?”

 

“I don’t know,” Jasper replies, feeling panic rise in his chest. “We can’t just do nothing!”

 

“Stay calm,” she pushes his rifle back down. “We also can’t jump into anything.”

 

Jasper is about to begrudgingly agree, when by some sort of weird divine intervention, Monty lifts his head and looks directly at them.

 

There’s a pause for a few seconds as Jasper forgets how to breathe. Monty is right there, and he’s 6 years older and even skinnier, with a cut across his face, but he’s still Jasper’s Monty. The quiet only lasts a few seconds before Monty seems to lose it. Without any warning, he is kicking the man holding him and Jasper can hear muffled screams through his gag as he tries to twist out of it. The other captor girl has turned to look at him with wide eyes and is shaking her head. Luna grabs Jasper’s elbow, apparently aware without looking at him that he won’t be able to just sit and watch this.

 

The girl has been led over to where Monty is fighting now, and her gag removed. Jasper is too far away to hear her, but he can tell from the way she holds herself and her face that she has been told to calm him down.

 

Whatever she’s doing isn’t working, because Monty is still struggling desperately. After a minute, she steps back, biting her lip. The man closest to them, who Jasper thinks has probably elected himself their leader, speaks, and his voice is loud enough for them to hear. “Take him back to the ship. We only need one guide, and he’s just scaring away any prey.”

 

They nod, and Jasper groans softly as two of them drag Monty back down the mountain. To Monty’s credit, he’s not given away his and Luna’s location, and the rover is well hidden in the trees. Their cover is safe for now.

 

Not that that’s doing anyone any good. He turns to look at Luna, feeling tears well up in his eyes. “The first time I see him in six years,” he chokes out, “and it’s like this?”

 

Luna, somewhat lost for words, squeezes his elbow sympathetically. “We’ll get to him. He’ll be okay.”

 

Jasper nods distractedly. “We should go get Madi,” he manages, and they slip back to where the rover is, unlocking the doors to find Madi, waiting anxiously.

 

“Was it them?” she asks, even though she is smart, and she must know it wasn’t.

 

“Sort of,” Jasper tells her, jumping into the rover and tucking his rifle away. “Some people we don’t know have Monty and another girl from the Ark.”

 

“Will we get them back?” Madi asks, looking afraid. She’s never met Monty or the others, but Jasper has told her all the stories that are appropriate to tell a small child, and she’s been excited to meet them. Her disappointment when they hadn’t come back after 5 years had nearly rivalled Jasper’s.

 

“Of course we will,” he tells her, with an air of confidence that only Luna can tell isn’t real. “We’re not leaving them behind.” He ruffles her hair under her beanie affectionately and she smiles at him. That part, he’s telling the truth about. If he was still radioing up to Monty every day with no reply after over 6 years, now that he’s seen him, he’s pretty much unstoppable.

 

“Can I help?” she asks, and Jasper is about to give her some tiny task like preparing the rover so she feels useful, when Luna steps in.

 

“You can help us figure out who they are,” she tells Madi. “We’ll travel back to Becca’s lab later, you can help me look for any clues.” Madi’s eyes light up.

 

“We’re not leaving here!” Jasper protests. “Monty’s in their ship, and we don’t even know where they took the other girl!”

 

Luna frowns. “Jasper, we’ll have a better chance if we know who the people that have them are.” She’s right, and he knows it, but there’s no way he’s driving the miles back to the lab without Monty. Luna must know this, because she sighs. “Madi and I will take the rover. Don’t do anything stupid, and stay under cover. We’ll come back first thing tomorrow.”

 

This is the best deal he’s going to get out of her, so he agrees quietly. Madi wraps her arms around him before they leave, and Luna makes him promise twice more not to try anything. They should be able to contact each other, so it’s not really as big a deal as they’re turning it into, but Jasper has a bit of a flair for the dramatic.

 

As he settles down to watch for anyone’s return to the ship, he thinks back to the last time he saw Monty, a blurry-edged 16 year old boy with tears in his eyes, begging Jasper to stay with him. Now here he is in real life, high definition, 22 years old and nearly 23 if he’s been keeping track right. This Monty must think he’s just seen a dead boy. Jasper wonders if he knows it’s real, if he’s locked in a cell somewhere figuring out how Jasper is alive, or if he just thinks he’s going mad. He needs to get to Monty as soon as he can. Besides, if Monty and Emori are alive, chances are the rest of his friends are still alive up on the Ark. Security footage had told him exactly who was up there, and no matter that he doesn’t recognise the sullen grounder girl or that he doesn’t particularly like Murphy, he still hopes they get their asses down here soon. Raven would find a way to evacuate the bunker, and Clarke’s leadership skills would most definitely be appreciated.

 

Also, as much as he dreads it, he has some apologies to make to Harper.

 

Sorry for nearly encouraging you to kill yourself.

 

Sorry for being kind of an asshole.

 

And if the radio has been working, sorry for telling your boyfriend I was in love with him over the Ark comms system in front of everyone.

 

He kind of hopes the radio wasn’t working. That particular incident had happened one day after 3 years, when Madi had been feverish and Luna had been quiet and withdrawn. He had awkwardly apologised the next day as Madi started recovering, with images of an uncomfortable Monty and a devastated Harper running through his head. That and the desire to not give Murphy the satisfaction of the drama had pushed him to babble some spiel about platonic love that was definitely a lie.

 

If this ship has made it down, and apparently stopped at the Ark, Jasper wonders if he should expect the other 6 to show up any time soon. He’s not sure exactly who this other girl is, but he knows that the rest of his friends must be desperate to save Monty, and after 6 years, the grounder girl surely means something to them. Plus, he could really use the help.

 

“We’re best off staying in the ship,” A voice suddenly shocks Jasper out of his reverie. He squints to see the source of it, and decides to nickname the guy Scarface, in light of the giant scar on his face. “It’s good enough for shelter, and all our supplies are still there.” As he speaks, the grounder girl comes into view. Jasper is glad to see she seems unharmed. Monty must not be in any immediate danger. Her hands are still bound, and Jasper notices that one of them is large with the fingers fused together. She looks pissed off and keeps glancing up at the sky in the same way as Jasper does. He hopes this means she thinks their friends are coming to rescue them.

 

If Luna hadn’t made him promise, and if he’d been an idiot, he would have followed them as they return to the ship. The fact that Monty is in there makes him desperate to storm it, but that could do more harm than good, and he can’t risk that right now. It’s one of those moments where he’s reminded of just how alone on Earth he truly is, with no current backup. There’s no way he’s getting Monty back on his own, but he doesn’t know if he can wait for Luna and Madi to return. The best thing he can do right now, he decides, is sleep.

 

When Jasper wakes up, it’s early evening and he’s changed his mind. Luna’s going to murder him when she gets back, but he thinks he knows how to do this. The ship must have been damaged when it landed, meaning he can almost certainly sneak in through an area that isn’t the door. They’re unlikely to be guarding it anyway, because much like when the 100 arrived, they have no idea they’re not alone on Earth. Mentally preparing apologies, he tucks his food and blankets under a tree where they won’t be damaged if it rains again, and slings his rifle over his shoulder as he heads down the hill.

 

Keeping a wide berth at first, he nearly has to physically silence his little cry of delight when he realises he was right. There’s no one on guard, and there’s a person-sized hole in one side of their ship. One hand ready on the rifle, he sneaks towards it and slips inside. He nearly hits his head on the metal as a huge bang sounds above him in the sky. No time to consider what it was (there’s been enough weird shit on Earth in the last few years that he really doesn't question stuff anymore) he attributes it to radiation and prays it hasn’t woken anyone up.

 

The inside of the ship is actually quite fancy. It feels kind of like something out of an old sci-fi horror movie, the kind he and Monty used to get high and watch. “Cryogenics?” Jasper whispers to himself, staring at the tank-like objects that line the wall as he keeps himself hidden behind a metal pillar. On the other side, there are a line of cells. The doors are all closed, but sitting between two of them is a sleeping man. He’s not in a cell, which means he must be guarding something.

 

Monty and the girl must be in these cells. Edging as close as he can, Jasper evaluates the man. He’s scrawny and he has a knife, but nothing else. Not a risk, Jasper decides. He’ll let him sleep and deal with the consequences if he wakes up.

 

The plan would be perfect if the damn door wasn’t locked. He considers his options. He could shoot the lock off, which would definitely work, but there’s no way he would have enough time to get both of them out before he was caught. Luna was right, coming here on his own may have been a terrible idea. Frustrated, he draws back into the shadows and scans the walls for anything he can use.

 

Bingo. Across the room is a fire alarm. If he can pull it, he’ll be able to fire the gun with no one hearing and the chaos might give him enough time to get both of them out. Holding his breath, he makes his way slowly towards the alarm.

 

Now or never.

 

Gritting his teeth, he smashes through the emergency glass with the butt of the rifle and a deafening wail fills the air. The sleeping man jolts upright, and Jasper jumps behind a pillar. The man runs to one of the end cells and disappears inside it. Wasting no time, Jasper fires two bullets at the doors the guard slept between and rushes into the nearest one, pulling it closed behind him. The girl is inside, on her feet looking ready to run. “Go,” Jasper hisses, pulling the door open again. “There’s a hole in the wall directly in front of you, you’ve got a few minutes, tops. I’m getting Monty.” The girl nods, looking absolutely baffled, then takes off out of the cell. The guard is back outside, but facing away from them, looking for smoke. He breathes a sigh of relief as he sees the girl disappear out into the night.

 

Now Monty.

 

Jasper slips out of the cell and darts into the one next door, peering back out as more prisoners fill the main area.

 

When he turns around, he is face to face with Monty.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not entirely sure how i feel about this chapter hmmmmm. reunion times next up i promise
> 
> tumblr: spacekru-monty


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey it's chapter 4 time! i'm stressed to upload this but here we fucking go

Lost for words, he smiles weakly. “Hi, Monty.”

 

Monty shakes his head, eyes wide. “No. No, this is a really weird hallucination.” His eyes well up with tears. “I can’t do this.” He squeezes his eyes shut and puts his hands over his ears.

 

Jasper bites his lip. This isn’t quite what he’d anticipated. “Hallucinations can’t pull fire alarms,” he says lamely. “And we kind of need to go now.”

 

There’s silence. A long silence. Then Monty opens his eyes, reaches out with a shaking hand, and brushes Jasper’s hair out of his eyes. He stares for a second, like he can’t believe it’s real and he can feel him, then makes a gut wrenching sound and throws himself forward into Jasper’s arms. “You were dead,” he whispers, voice shaking. “I saw you! I left you there!”

 

“Long story,” Jasper strokes Monty’s back. He’s not going to be able to get him out of here in this state, so he needs to calm him down. “I’m here now.”

 

“Please don’t go,” Monty cries.

 

“I came here to get you, idiot.” Jasper laughs. “The other girl already left.”

 

“Emori?” Monty sniffs, then nods, determination setting into his features. He doesn’t look directly at Jasper.

 

Reluctantly, Jasper steps back and checks the main area. It’s nearly empty. Either they’ve decided it’s a false alarm or they’re looking harder. Whichever it is, they need to leave. He reaches to take Monty’s hand, but he winces. Looking down, Jasper sees that his left hand is badly burnt, with angry scars spreading across it like little flames. “Shit,” he says, and Monty gives him a confused look. He’s said it in Trigedasleng, he realises. Boy, do they have a lot to discuss. “Listen,” he says, reaching out to take Monty’s face in his hands. “There’s a lot to talk about. We can carry this on once we get outside.”

 

Apparently he spoke too soon, because at that precise moment, Scarface, the man who had been holding Monty and Emori earlier, bursts through the door. “Who the hell are you?” he asks, and Jasper steps in front of Monty. If he can get close enough, he can knock him out with the butt of the rifle. If not, he can shoot him. Whatever happens, he is leaving this place with Monty if it’s the last thing he does. “Get out of the way,” Monty says hoarsely. “Jasper, please!”

 

“I’ve got this covered,” Jasper replies.

 

“If you get hurt-” Monty breaks off, and Jasper knows what he’s thinking. Monty has already seen him die once. “I know what I’m doing,” Jasper reassures him, and he does, because this conversation has distracted Scarface enough for him to step closer. Without any warning, he slams the butt of the rifle into his head and he crumples. “Let’s go,” Jasper says, and they tear out of the cell door and through the hole in the wall, back into the cold night air. Outside, breathing heavily, they collapse against the trees. Emori hurries over to meet them. “Monty!” she gasps, wrapping her arms around him. “Monty, you idiot, what was that freakout about?”

 

Monty detaches himself and looks over at Jasper. “I saw him,” he says quietly.

 

“A random grounder dude? Monty, he’s probably just a guy from the bunker. They got out over a year ago!”

 

“Actually, the people in the bunker aren’t out yet. Too much rubble. I’m Jasper.”

 

“ _You’re_ Jasper? Fucking hell,” Emori shakes her head. “What were the chances?”

 

“You’re talking to each other,” Monty says faintly. “You’re really here.”

 

“Sure am, Monty.” Jasper says, humour not quite covering up the fact that he’s still kind of in shock that Monty is really here. Monty steps closer to him again, looking him up and down. “You got fit,” he says finally. Then, awkwardly, “I mean like, strong.”

 

“You’re still scrawny,” Jasper shoots back, and then they’re both laughing. Monty hugs him again, but this time it’s happier, and less teary. “There’s kind of a lot of explaining to do,” Jasper tells him, pulling out of the hug but keeping his hands on Monty’s shoulders. “The whole survival story is kinda crazy.”

 

“Are you still-” Monty pauses, uncomfortable.

 

Knowing what he means, Jasper shakes his head. “No. That was an emotional rollercoaster, but I’m doing good these days.”

 

Monty nods, still clearly processing. Emori looks kind of entertained. He’s about to start explaining about Luna and Madi when they hear voices over the hill. Tensing up, Jasper wonders if they were followed out of the ship. “Emori! Monty!”

 

Maybe not.

 

A small group come tearing down the hill and Jasper steps away in alarm as a huge figure pulls Monty off the ground. He’s about to pull his rifle when he hears laughter and realises the person is hugging him.

 

And that the person is Bellamy Blake.

 

Bellamy is whispering to Monty and he overhears “Oh God, you’re okay!”. Sensing that this is a moment for them, Jasper looks over to see Murphy and Emori making out. Eventually, they pull apart and Raven goes to hug Emori. Behind them, he spots Clarke, Harper, and a girl he doesn’t recognise. Then finally, they spot him.

 

Bellamy is the first, withdrawing from Monty and turning to Jasper, presumably about to thank the random guy that rescued his friend when he freezes. “Jasper?” he asks, voice soft.

 

“Hey, Bellamy.” Jasper pipes up, before he’s immediately muffled by Bellamy wrapping him in a fierce hug. “Good to see you too.”

 

Over Bellamy’s shoulder, Jasper can see Clarke grinning as she bounces down the slope, Harper shaking her head in disbelief. The girl he doesn’t know looks supremely confused. Murphy is whispering to Emori, a small smirk on his face. “We thought you were dead, Jasper! Monty said-”

 

“We gotta stop listening to Monty,” Murphy shakes his head. “He told me algae wouldn’t taste that bad. Now this?”

 

“Oh, shut up, Murphy!” Raven’s tone is light and affectionate as she scrambles over and hugs Jasper, pushing a shocked Bellamy put of the way. “You got a lot of explaining to do, kid. God, it’s so good to see you!”

 

“I’m 22,” Jasper says indignantly. “And I wouldn’t have to explain anything if you guys had got my messages.” He slings an arm around Harper who has crept over.

 

“Comms were fucked. That’s Echo, by the way.” Raven points at the girl hanging back. “You with anyone? Have the people from the bunker found you?”

 

“My sister?” Bellamy asks hopefully, and Jasper feels awful for him.

 

“The bunker is buried under rubble. They’re alive in there we think, but we can’t get them out.”

 

Bellamy’s face falls, then he pauses. “We?”

 

“Me, Luna, and Madi.”

 

“Luna’s alive? And who’s Madi?” Clarke frowns.

 

“Shoulda fixed your comms. This is gonna take hours.” Jasper nudges Clarke with his shoulder. She nudges back, grinning. Looks like 6 years away from leading a bunch of idiots has done her sense of humour some good. “I want answers too, though. You guys know it’s been 6 years, right?”

 

Harper grimaces. “Believe me, we know. We only got down now because Monty and Emori weren’t there.”

 

Jasper had sort of expected that Monty would walk next to him, but he seems to be hanging back with Bellamy and Murphy. He wants to talk to him, but that might be pushing it right now. Turning his attention away, he listens to Raven explain how the rocket had only been fit to hold six people, so really Emori and Monty’s abduction had been a stroke of luck. “Don’t let Murphy know I said that though. He was _not_ happy.”

 

“Emori, huh?” Jasper glances back to where Emori is walking hand in hand with Murphy. “He’s a changed man.”

 

“So, Luna?” Raven asks. “Explain that one. Actually, explain the whole thing.”

 

Jasper shrugs. “Luna survived, decided she didn’t want to be the only person left. She went to Arkadia to, like, die where her people did?” Raven winces at that. “Anyway, she found me alive.”

 

“How?” Clarke asks.

 

“Beats me. I probably screwed up the quantities and only knocked myself out.” It’s difficult to reference that time still, but it’s more like an old scar now. “She recognised me from back at her oil rig. The kid who cried when Shay died. Apparently, that made me worth saving.”

 

“You were always worth saving,” Bellamy says. “I’m sorry I left you there.”

 

“I’m sorry I asked you to,” Jasper replies. It’s clear now with them all back, especially Monty, exactly the impact his choice had. “I was wrong then.”

 

There are more questions to be answered. Jasper tells them about hiding in the old bunker with a grounder with a bullet though his skull, and how between the two of them they had managed a blood transfusion that nearly killed him all over again with marrow Luna stole from the lab. He tells them about gathering food, and finding the rover, then Madi. He doesn’t mention radioing them every day. It’s best that stays in the past, because it’s a lot easier to control what he tells them when they’re right in front of him.

 

When they arrive back where he had left his bags, the others collapse to the ground, exhaustion finally setting in. Jasper notices idly that Bellamy and Clarke sit awfully close to each other, and that Monty lies down next to Raven, not Harper. Or him, for that matter, but that one he understands, even if it makes his heart ache. “I still can’t believe you’re here,” Harper says softly. “God, we never even-”

 

“I should have checked.” Monty looks up from where he’s curled up. “I didn’t check for a pulse.”

 

“You couldn’t have known,” Jasper tells him. “And I don’t know how long I would’ve lasted on the Ark anyway.” The others look uncomfortable with that, and he drops the topic. “I’ll take first watch,” he says. “We don’t know if those people will come looking for us.”

 

They agree, too tired and too shocked to suggest anyone else. Raven wraps her arms around him again before she settles down, and Bellamy ruffles his hair. They’re all asleep in minutes.

 

Or at least, Jasper had assumed they were. After he’s been watching the hill for about half an hour, trying to take in the fact that his friends are really here in front of him, there’s a gentle crinkle of leaves behind him. He whips around, half expecting a wild animal, but it’s just Monty, shivering in the cold night air. “Your jacket is too thin,” he tells Monty, because it seems a bit early for anything else. “Take my cardigan, we’ll find something warmer for you tomorrow.”

 

“I love you,” Monty whispers, and Jasper freezes. “I love you so much.”

 

He almost doesn’t trust himself to speak. “I love you so much, too.” Saying it again, to Monty’s face, is like a weight off his shoulders.

 

Monty laughs shakily. “Did you hear me? When you asked me to-”

 

“No,” Jasper answers honestly, feeling a twinge in his chest. “I was unconscious. But I knew. I know.”

 

Monty closes his eyes, and nods. “Mind if I keep you company?” Jasper hates that he seems almost nervous to ask, and pats the log beside him. Monty sits, and he takes off his cardigan and drapes it around his skinny shoulders. The world is so silent, and all Jasper can hear is the gentle sound of people breathing. When he turns back, Monty is looking at him.

 

“What?”

 

“You look different,” Monty replies, and this time there’s an ease in his voice, an old teasing tone starting to slip back in. “It’s better than the shaved head and the moustache.”

 

“That was bad, right?!” Jasper grins.

 

“Terrible,” Monty shakes his head, smiling. “I’m glad you’ve come to your senses. And you found your goggles!”

 

Jasper taps them. “Went back to Arkadia a few years back.”

 

“I got you those just before we got arrested,” Monty says thoughtfully. “How the hell did they last this long?”

 

“Sheer willpower,” he replies. “How the hell did your relationships last this long? I would hate everyone on the Ark by now.”

 

“Harper and I broke up,” Monty replies. “We’re friends, and I love her, but I couldn’t-” he pauses. “It wasn’t going to work.”

 

“Shit,” Jasper comments, feeling a bit weird about everything he had said over the radio. That aside, whatever he feels for Monty, he is first and foremost his best friend. Anything else they might be takes a backseat. At least, he hopes they’re still best friends. They seem to be slipping easily back into their old ways, but there’s a tension underneath. It’s impossible to ignore how different they are to the kids who landed on Earth expecting a party.

 

“I feel bad taking your cardigan,” Monty says, and moves to drape it over both of their shoulders. For this to work, he has to edge much closer. Jasper’s not cold at all, especially now he can feel the warmth of Monty’s body against him, but he doesn’t complain.

 

Monty yawns. “Long day,” he says, almost apologetically. “Do you want to switch with someone so you can sleep?”

 

“It’s been like an hour,” Jasper teases. “You look barely awake, though.”

 

“Do you remember when we shared the tent when we first landed?” Monty asks.

 

Jasper doesn’t even need him to finish to know what Monty means. “Yes, you can,” he replies, and Monty smiles before shifting so he can rest his head across Jasper’s knees.

 

“I can’t go back to sleep over there,” he explains. “I keep thinking I imagined this.”

 

Jasper runs his hands through Monty’s hair. “God, you’re cuddly.”

 

“You think I’m cuddly? Wait until the newly affectionate Bellamy is unleashed on _you,”_ Monty replies. “I think he might be my father now.” He lets out a large puff of breath that Jasper sees cloud and disappear in the air, then stops talking.

 

Jasper ends up not having to wake anyone up for the next watch. Clarke wakes up on her own, and Jasper watches her quietly as she sits up and smiles to see the trees surrounding her. Her eyes fall on a spot of ground next to Raven and she frowns, looking concerned. Then she turns and shakes Bellamy awake. Before Jasper realises what’s going on, she whispers, “Bellamy, Monty’s gone!” Bellamy sits up quickly, face creasing with worry as he sees Monty’s empty spot. Jasper jumps in quickly before they wake everyone up.

 

“He’s over here,” he hisses, gesturing to where Monty is asleep on his legs. Their faces soften immediately. “Do you want me to wake him up? Do you need something?”

 

Clarke shakes her head. “It can wait. He needs to sleep.”

 

“So do you.” Bellamy looks him over again, still clearly coming to terms with him being there. “You look tired. We can take watch.”

 

“We?” Jasper asks. His tone light, he adds, “I don’t think watching this hill is a two-person job.”

 

“Well-”

 

“How long?”

 

Clarke sighs. “Not long after we got to the Ark. I think it was always on the cards, we were just too busy.”

 

“I meant how long your watch would be, but sure!” Jasper laughs at their faces. He had been suspecting as much ever since he saw them for the first time. Clarke gives him a mock glare as Bellamy busies himself with gently moving Monty back to his spot on the ground and fixing Jasper’s cardigan over his torso.

 

“When will Luna and Madi get back?” Clarke asks him. She looks a little awkward, probably because things with Luna hadn’t ended on the best terms.

 

“She said first thing tomorrow,” Jasper answers. “You’ll like Madi, she’s a sweetie.”

 

“I’m sure,” Clarke smiles. She and Bellamy look so much happier these days. It feels wrong to sort of appreciate the fact that Earth’s population is so small these days, but if it makes his friends smile like that, then it’s worth it. Bellamy takes a seat next to Clarke on the log, and Jasper hovers next to them.

 

“Is Monty- is he okay?” he asks eventually.

 

Bellamy scrunches his face up. “He’s doing better.”

 

“He thought I was a hallucination,” Jasper admits.

 

“Oh,” Bellamy says lowly. “Yeah.”

 

“Did he hallucinate before?” Jasper is afraid of the answer.

 

Clarke gives him a sad smile. “He was sick, Jas. Running a really high fever because of the injury to his hands. It was close.”

 

He says nothing, feeling the sting of sympathy and guilt in his chest. It’s not his fault, he knows that, but Monty was never supposed to hurt so badly. “I didn’t want to hurt him,” he says after a long silence. “I never wanted that.”

 

“We know.” Bellamy reaches out and pats his shoulder. “So does he.”

 

“Jasper?” Clarke looks up at him, a small smile on her face. “Remember that prank with the foam?”

 

“Um. Yes?”

 

“You were right. It was funny.”

 

Jasper grins at both of them and goes to lie down next to Monty. Sleep doesn’t come easy, but it’s nice to know that some things never change, and Monty will be there when he wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope everyone enjoyed that reunion ft. terrible explanations of science
> 
> tumblr: spacekru-monty


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i nearly uploaded the wrong chapter here because i'm incompetent

For the first time in a while, Jasper does not awaken to the peaceful sound of the wind in the trees and birds tweeting.

 

Instead, he wakes up to the churning sound of the rover and Luna shouting at him. “Jasper! Were you not there when I told you not to do anything heroic? Did that just not register for you?” Her angry tone is somewhat undercut by Madi bouncing out of the passenger seat with an excited grin, surveying Jasper’s friends.

 

“Hi, Luna. Listen, so-”

 

“Are these the people from the Ark?” Madi cuts in, speaking English. Then, switching rapidly to Trigedasleng, “Is that him?” She gestures subtly (or what she thinks is subtly) towards Monty. She’s heard a lot of stories about him in particular. In Jasper's defence, he just has more stories about Monty.

 

“What about him?” Emori frowns. Jasper had kind of forgotten she would understand that. Murphy elbows her, and she snorts.

 

“This is Madi,” Jasper explains, hoping that the presence of a minor will ease Luna off destroying him.

 

“How did you get them out? When did the others get here?” Luna mostly looks exasperated now.

 

“Pulled a fire alarm and snuck them out in the chaos. No one died,” Jasper informs her, and she looks slightly less disapproving. “They arrived last night, coming after Emori and Monty.” He nods to the group, who stand behind him with varying degrees of awkwardness. Sensing that it’s something to be talked about later, he changes the topic. “What did you find out?”

 

Luna smiles at last. “Madi?”

 

“They’re a mining colony!” she blurts out. “Natblidas who got lost years ago, but they were frozen cryo- cryo-” She frowns.

 

“Cryogenically,” Luna fills in. “If we reach out to them, we can get the people in the bunker out.”

 

Bellamy’s face lights up. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” He’s about to set off down the hill when Clarke stops him.

 

“We can’t just go,” she says, sympathy in her voice.

 

“We have to! It’s _Octavia_ ,” Bellamy looks distraught.

 

“Clarke is right. We can’t just walk in and demand they help us, especially not after Jasper broke in to free their hostages.” Luna looks over at Clarke, who nods appreciatively, and he hopes it’s been long enough that the tension has diffused.

 

“We need leverage,” Murphy says. “Something we can take from them.”

 

“Or something we can offer them,” Harper suggests.

 

“We don’t have anything at all, Harper,” Jasper shakes his head. “We could offer them Madi, but I quite like her.” Madi punches him lightly in the side, and he pulls her beanie over her eyes as she laughs.

 

“What about the bunker?” Monty says, and they turn to look at him. “Once they get everyone out, most of the grounders will want to leave. If only Skaikru live in there, there’s plenty of room for some miners.”

 

“Will the grounders want to leave?” Clarke looks dubious.

 

“Azgeda will,” Echo speaks for the first time since Jasper’s met her. “There’s no way they’ll want to stay in there.”

 

“Then it could work,” Clarke nods. “We can get them out!”

 

Murphy pats Monty’s shoulder, and Monty breaks into a smile. “Cool.”

 

Jasper heads off after a few minutes to put everything away in the rover and find some blankets for the rest of the group. Truthfully, he is glad for the few minutes of silence that he gets, sitting alone in the back whilst Madi endears herself to his friends and Luna hovers. He finds it a little weird, now they’re all here, that he has known Luna and Madi longer than anyone other than Monty who is there right now. Other than Monty, who is in a different league altogether, Luna is his best friend these days. He’s looking forward to getting to know them all better. Right now, it’s a little too much. He’s spent the last six years with only two other people, and suddenly having eight to keep his eye on feels exhausting. Honestly, Jasper is a little afraid to get everyone out of the bunker.

 

Pushing that to the back of his mind, he finds a dark green sweater for Monty and slings it on top of the pile of blankets he’s carrying. There’s not enough space for them all to sleep in the rover, but after six years in space, none of them seem particularly averse to sleeping on the ground.

 

Returning to the group, he finds most of them crowded around Luna, discussing making a deal with the mining colony. The exceptions are Monty and Madi, who are sat cross-legged on the ground in deep conversation, and Echo, who hovers near them. As Jasper approaches, he overhears some of their conversation. “Did he tell you that I brought him more bullets?” Monty says, eyebrows raised, and Madi nods. “Okay, but did he tell you he made it into a huge deal for like a week?” They’re talking about the bomb at the bridge, Jasper realises. Admittedly, he hasn’t told Madi about his slightly embarrassing response to being the hero.

 

“Hey, you guys. Monty, you slagging me off?”

 

“Yes,” Monty replies, mock seriously. “Madi thinks you’re cool. I had to put her right.”

 

“I got you a jumper and everything!” Jasper lightly throws the sweater at Monty. “You can’t hog my cardigan anymore.”

 

Monty nods appreciatively as he shrugs it on, then tips his head back. “Echo, sit down. That’s really unnerving.” Echo takes a seat next to Monty, and Jasper offers her an apple. Her eyes light up as she takes it, and she nods appreciatively.

 

“We’ve been eating algae for six years,” she says. “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”

 

Jasper laughs at her as he slides a bowl of nuts into the middle of their circle. Monty looks at them suspiciously. “These aren’t-”

 

“No jobi nuts,” Jasper promises. “They make me sick now.”

 

Echo takes the whole bowl and starts cracking them all open. Jasper is about to make a joke about her sharing habits when she takes a small handful and slides the rest of the bowl back over to Monty, who smiles in thanks. He hadn’t quite realised the effect Monty’s hand was having on his life. It really just looked like some cool scar tissue. “What actually happened there?” he asks, because if he doesn’t ask now, he’ll get caught in an endless cycle of never knowing if it’s too late to admit he doesn’t know. Monty seems relatively unfazed.

 

“I took my gloves off to get the dish,” he explains. “The right one still works, but this is kinda useless.” He holds up his left hand. “Can’t even crack nuts. Sad.” It’s a joke, and he seems to be dealing more or less okay with the whole situation. Jasper supposes he’s had six years to get used to it.

 

The other group are still quietly discussing approaching the mining colony. It seems like they’ve decided to leave the past behind, which Jasper is grateful for. When Luna catches Jasper watching, she beckons him over. “We’re going to attempt a meetup tonight,” she tells him. “It’s best if you don’t come, given that they already saw you breaking Monty out.”

 

This seems fair, so Jasper agrees fairly easily, as long as the others return as soon as their mission is over. Luna reminds him that he’s hardly in a position to be asking people to promise things. He chooses to ignore that. Monty, Emori, and Madi will stay behind too. Apparently it’s best if there’s nothing there to remind the miners of the conflict, even if it is entirely their fault for kidnapping two of their friends.

 

The group sets off a little before sunset. If they leave at night, they fear it will look like an ambush. Madi and Emori are chatting away about something or other in the back, and this is how Jasper finds himself lying on the roof of the rover with Monty. “You understand any Trigedasleng?” He’s been curious about this, and if he knows something Monty doesn’t, he’s going to hold it over him for a while. “I mean, I’m fluent now, but they’re talking really fast.”

 

“Echo and Emori taught me some,” Monty answers. “But Emori mostly taught me how to swear, and I have no faith at all that Echo told me a single real word. Also, she was kinda high at the time.”

 

“You got Echo high?”

 

“Don’t ask. It was really weird.”

 

“Wish I could have seen that.” Jasper only sort of means that. He does feel like he’s missed out on six years of becoming a family with everyone who went to the Ark, or in the bunker. On the other hand, he doesn’t think he could have recovered without Earth, or Luna and Madi.

 

“Clarke will want to paint this,” Monty says, changing the subject. “She always tried to paint sunsets on the Ark, but she couldn’t quite remember how they looked.”

 

“Plenty of time for art now,” Jasper replies, watching the sky. “She doesn’t need to be a leader anymore. And there’s no one left to fight.”

 

“She’ll find something,” Monty says lightly. “She had her hands full with me most of the time in space.”

 

“Your hands?”

 

Monty shrugs. “Partly. It was sort of everything. I was...not good for a while.” There’s a long silence that stretches out in front of them, then he continues. “I’m sorry you went through that by yourself. I think I get it now.” At the concern on Jasper’s face, he smiles. “I’m fine now, really. This is all very weird, but I’m not gonna do anything.”

 

Jasper looks away and runs his fingers along Monty’s right hand. There are faint scars, but it still looks more or less like the same hand he kissed when he thought he was about to die.  “I’m glad.”

 

“Jas?” Monty suddenly sounds very vulnerable again, and it makes him look up. “What did ‘say you love me’ mean?”

 

Jasper swallows a lump in his throat and replies, “I think that was a pretty straightforward request, Monts.”

 

“Six years,” he breathes. “I still don’t get it.”

 

“I just wanted to hear you say it. I needed to know you loved me like I loved you.”

 

“Well, I did. I do.” Monty moves his fingers slightly to brush against Jasper’s. Then he laughs slightly. “Sometimes it feels like I never even left. It doesn’t feel like six years. Except sometimes it does.”

 

“I radioed you every day,” Jasper says quietly. “Kept me sane, I guess.”

 

“What did you say?”

 

“I mostly just talked about my day. Or stuff I remembered?” Time to come clean. “Told you I loved you three years in.”

 

“Took you three years?” Monty nudges him. “Dude.”

 

“That was three years ago, you’re not allowed to hold it against me!”

 

“Do you still mean it?” Monty asks, staring at their hands.

 

“Monty. I know I say a lot of stuff I don’t mean, and I play a lot of dumb tricks. But I completely, totally, honestly love you.”

 

“Wow. You’re not so bad yourself.” Monty’s smile is back now.

 

“Shut up!” Jasper lets out a nervous laugh that has been bubbling up inside him.

 

“Never. Try and make me stop.” Monty dares him, and Jasper takes this as an invitation to kiss him. Monty makes a little startled noise against his mouth, then brings his hand up to Jasper’s jawline, brushing softly along it. He doesn’t push him away, so Jasper moves his knees to get closer. He knits his hands into Monty's hair, thumbs brushing his cheeks, and pushes their foreheads together. It’s raining lightly, cold little droplets on their cheeks and hands, but it doesn’t matter. _This is right_ , he thinks to himself as he leans in again. _This is how it was meant to be_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's slow burn? answer: what this was meant to be, but i'm a mess. hang around for me to address my own incompetence through plotlines. uploads might get a little slower now as i'm currently writing chapter 9 which may or may not be the penultimate chapter and i'm trying to figure out how to end it. thanks for still reading!
> 
> tumblr: spacekru-monty


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yikes i just spent 12 days writing one chapter but i'm still ahead so this isn't gonna get discontinued. we're going back to monty's pov now because this is one hell of a situation

They don't sleep together, or at least not in that way. It was way too soon for that. After a few minutes, Monty gently places his good hand on Jasper’s shoulder and pushes him off. “Sorry,” he says hoarsely. “Too much.”

 

“What part?” Jasper looks very worried all of a sudden.

 

“Not the kissing. I liked that. A lot. But I can’t go further, or not right now, anyway.”

 

“That’s fine,” Jasper agrees to Monty’s relief, not that he had thought it would be an issue. “When you’re ready.”

 

“I will be,” Monty tells him. “This?” He gestures at Jasper’s hair and grounder clothes. “Totally hot.” He’s lying on his back staring up at the sky, which is dark now, and Jasper is next to him, eyes bright in the darkness. He’s so alive it makes Monty’s chest hurt a little. “We could see this green spot from space,” he says to fill the silence. “I can’t believe we were looking right at you this whole time.”

 

“Trippy,” Jasper agrees. Monty can tell from his voice that he’s smiling as he continues. “You know I’ve kinda wanted to do that for a while.”

 

“We’re dumb,” he replies. “Why couldn’t we have had this conversation before-” That’s not a sentence he can finish. Thinking about before is still like pressing on a bruise. Jasper seems to pick up on this and doesn’t push any further, so Monty rolls over to rest on the crook of his arm. At this angle, he can feel Jasper’s heart beating through his shirt. It’s a good feeling, one that reminds him this is real and he’s here. Jasper’s hand is tracing patterns on his elbow, and it’s all very different to how they were six years ago, barely able to touch each other, but Monty can say without any doubt that he prefers this.

 

When the rain picks up, they have to climb down from the roof of the rover and go inside. Madi is asleep, having had a long day, and Emori is sitting near the door, looking a little uneasy. “You okay?” Monty asks, scrambling in ungracefully. Jasper hops in behind him and busies himself with hanging their damp blankets from the ceiling to dry.

 

“Yeah, sorry,” Emori looks a little distracted. “It’s just that this is sort of the first time in six years that we haven’t been with the rest of the group.”

 

“You worrying?” Monty asks, because he kind of is. He knows his friends can handle themselves, but when you can barely go a minute without seeing them for six years, it’s weird to be apart again.

 

“Sort of,” Emori shrugs. “It’s stupid.”

 

“Nah, I get it.” He takes a seat next to her, nudging her shoulder. “It’s weird not knowing exactly where everyone is now.”

 

Emori nods, distracted. “Thanks, Monty.”

 

He and Jasper make eye contact across the rover. With Emori there, and Madi asleep in the corner, it’s difficult to start blurring the lines in their relationship again. Monty wants to ask what’s going to change now, if anything, but now isn’t the time, so they just smile at each other.

 

There are a few minutes of silence in the rover where they all listen to the rain hammering down on the roof. After what feels like forever, it’s broken by the sound of voices. Emori jumps to her feet and leaps out of the rover, Monty following as fast as he can.

 

Their friends are walking up the hill, and a quick head count tells Monty that everyone is there and no one looks hurt. It makes him realise exactly how worried he was, as he throws his arms around Harper. “You must be freezing,” he whispers.

 

“I’m okay,” she replies, squeezing him back. “The miners agreed! We’re going to start work on the bunker tomorrow!”

 

“I can’t believe that worked,” Monty shakes his head, smiling.

 

“God, I’ve missed Miller,” Harper is all smiles. “He better be happy to see us. And everyone else, of course.”

 

Monty laughs and agrees. Miller has been another person who he’s felt the absence of in the last six years. He’ll be glad to see him after all this time, even if it’s going to be supremely weird.

 

He’s about to turn back to the rover when Harper catches his arm. “Can we talk for a minute?” she asks, and guides him under the shelter of a thick canopy of trees where the rain won’t soak them any further.

 

“What’s up?” he asks her, leaning against the tree trunk. It kind of hurts his back, but after six years of cold metal, it’s very welcome. “Is there a catch to the deal?”

 

“The deal went fine, Monty. I’m worried about _you.”_

 

“Oh,” he says, because he’s not sure what else to say. “I’m fine, Harper. Promise.”

 

“Listen, this is a really weird situation. I have no idea what to think and I don’t even know how I’d react in your position.”

 

“Well, it’s good weird.” Monty says quickly. Truthfully, it was hard to come to terms with. He’s spent six years grieving and moving on, now Jasper is back in his life and suddenly everything is coming back. “It’s taking time, but it’ll be okay.”

 

“You thought you were hallucinating,” Harper says softly, sympathy in her voice. “I don’t know if you’re working through things very well.”

 

“Does everyone know about that now?” Monty is starting to feel a bit irritated. Harper looks guilty, and she’s about to say something before Bellamy and Clarke appear.

 

“There you two are,” Bellamy says. “We were starting to wonder.”

 

“Just chatting,” Monty says to shut off the conversation and tries to make his way back to the rover. It’s the nosey people that have followed him out here. If he goes back, he’s fairly sure Murphy won’t start trying to give him therapy.

 

“So how are you doing, Monty?” Clarke asks, and he rolls his eyes.

 

“Why does everyone keep asking me that? And don’t start bringing up the hallucination stuff.”

 

“Monty-”

 

“It was a reasonable assumption! Not like it would be a first time thing.” They all wince at the memory of that. “Can you all just stop crowding me?”

 

“It’s a shock, Monty. Especially for you.” Bellamy is taking on his worried parent look. “You and Jasper were- or, are-” His pause suggests he really doesn’t know what they were or are.

 

“It’s a nice shock,” Monty replies, feeling like he’s repeating himself. “I’m happy. Really.”

 

They look like they want to argue further, but the rain is quite heavy now, so they head back to the rover. They’re all sleeping in there tonight, it’s too wet for the ground and they haven’t found any tents yet.

 

Everyone crams in, draping blankets over knees and shoulders. Monty finds himself curled up between Jasper and Echo, although he’s leaning almost entirely into Jasper. Bellamy and Clarke are together, so are Murphy and Emori. Raven seems to have ended up very close to Luna, which doesn’t really surprise Monty all that much for some reason. The rover is warm and dry, but it’s still different enough to the Ark that Monty can close his eyes and listen to the drifting voices, occasionally pitching in, and still know that everything is completely different now.

 

They share stories of the Ark for the last six years, and Earth before the death wave, although the nice stories are few and far between. Jasper talks about watching the Earth recover, with occasional contributions from Luna and Madi, although Madi was apparently only 7 when Praimfaya hit, so her memories are kind of unreliable.

 

“I once ran into Bellamy and Clarke making out,” Monty says when he’s been silent long enough that he knows someone will start getting irrationally worried. “I was running off because-” he pauses, not wanting to get into the issue of ALIE, “well, I was just in a rush, and I ran straight into them. Bellamy’s face was pretty priceless.”

 

Jasper snorts, and Monty’s head is jerked up with his shoulders. “I wish I could have seen all of your faces at that.”

 

“Monty was pretty shocked,” Clarke nods, smiling. “Though if it took him that long to notice in the _first place-”_

 

“Barely left his room and then invaded everyone’s privacy when he did,” says Murphy, tone flat, before shooting Monty an apologetic look as he realises that may have been the wrong thing to bring up in front of everyone. Monty just shrugs because inappropriate humour is sort of Murphy’s thing, and he’s come to appreciate that over the years, though he can tell with a sinking feeling that Jasper will want to know about that later.

 

The conversations continue, drifting in all sorts of weird directions, and Monty laughs as Harper tries to explain the fact that they’d been drinking recycled urine to a horrified Madi. They’re all joining in on the teasing now, spinning ridiculous stories until even she doesn’t believe them anymore. To be fair to her, Monty supposes that no one in her life has had any reason to lie to her before. She’s had only Jasper and Luna by her side for six years, and although he doesn’t really know Luna, Jasper is one of the most honest people he’s ever known. He doesn’t even necessarily tell the truth, but his face is so open with every emotion that it’s obvious what he’s thinking.

 

Maybe that’s just him.

 

Once they’ve been talking for a while without scratching the surface of everything they should be talking about, someone decides they should sleep before the bunker rescue begins tomorrow. Most of them agree without hesitation, all secretly exhausted but unwilling to step away from the group, although Madi seems disappointed. Her voice keeps drifting up into the silence with another question, usually followed by Luna’s gentle shushing and Harper’s muffled laughter.

 

Monty lets Jasper pull him closer as they lie down, figuring that no one will really be able to tell the difference with how they were before. Or at least, how they were before Monty hacked the computers in Mount Weather and Maya died, along with her entire civilisation. He thinks that probably won’t ever stop hurting either of them, but at least maybe they can stop it from driving a wedge in between them and ruining their friendship and each other.

 

It’s easier to sleep that night than it has been in a long time. The Ark was loud and cold and he was by himself, and the first night on the ground it was impossible to shut his brain up long enough to drift off. Here in the warmth of the rover, with Jasper’s arms around him and his feet poking against Echo’s legs, sleep finds him quickly. For the first time in a long time, it’s quiet, uninterrupted, and peaceful.

 

He hopes he’ll have time to get used to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for sticking with it! comic-con is coming up which means we're gonna start hearing actual clues for s5 which i will wholeheartedly ignore in favour of this
> 
> tumblr: spacekru-monty


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after the crazy weekend that was sdcc i realise that at some point i have to accept that jasper has died. but not yet, so here's chapter 7! i may be a diehard jonty shipper but i still love harper SO!

When Jasper wakes up, the rain has stopped, and early morning light is filtering in through the windows of the rover. Monty is still asleep, curled in his arms, and Jasper is careful not to move him too much as he shifts to sit up.

 

Luna, always an early riser, smiles at him as she pulls the now dry blankets down from the ceiling. He feels a little guilty that he hasn’t talked to her much since the others returned, so he tilts his head a little to indicate they should step outside. Luna follows, carefully stepping over the other new occupants of the rover. It’s another warm day but the ground is soaked, and Jasper can feel water soaking through his boots. “So,” Luna says eventually. “They came back.”

 

“Only a year late,” Jasper replies. He’s smiling, but he knows Luna must want to address something. “What’s the deal?”

 

“Don’t you think you’re trying to rush things?” Her voice is sympathetic. “They’re not the same people they were when they left, Jasper. Neither are we.”

 

“I know that,” he says softly, because he does. Clarke and Bellamy are much happier, less desperate to take the lead. Raven seems to be at peace with everything, finally. Even Murphy seems to have a softer side, when Jasper catches him smiling to himself or helping one of the others. Then there’s Monty. He’s happy, but there’s a horrible sadness in him that Jasper wishes wasn’t there. “I just missed them,” he admits.

 

She nods. “I get that. Just- don’t go backwards. Don’t try and be who you were.” She’s referring to the Jasper she knew when she first saved his life, recovering from a suicide attempt and utterly miserable. She saved him, put him back together, and for this, he will always be grateful.

 

“Don’t worry,” he says. “I’m not doing anything stupid.”

 

“I’m glad,” she says, and Jasper reaches out to hug her.

 

“I’m not forgetting about you or Madi,” he reassures her. “Things _are_ different now. But I think they can be good still.”

 

“I hope so,” Luna replies, squeezing him gently.

 

He gently detaches himself as people start to stir in the rover. Opening the doors must have woken them up, because people are starting to sit up and move. Monty rolls over, looking alarmed for a second before spotting Jasper and Luna outside and relaxing.

 

“The miners need us to guide them to Polis,” Luna tells the group as she and Jasper climb back in. “We have to meet them before noon if we want to get there before nightfall, and we’re going to have to alternate who takes the rover.”

 

“But first, breakfast!” Jasper chips in, noticing the look on Madi’s face. “Eat lots, you guys.”

 

“Don’t need to tell me twice,” says Murphy dryly, moving in as soon as Jasper unhooks one of the bags of supplies from the wall.

 

“We have fruit or fruit.” Jasper tells him, rifling through bags. “We can catch fish and find vegetables too, but that doesn’t feel like a breakfast thing.”

 

“I’ll have some fruit,” Monty says, and Jasper rolls it across the ground to him because he won’t be able to catch it. As they eat, they talk about the people in the bunker. Clarke is antsy, desperate to see her mom, and Bellamy is even worse about Octavia. Harper and Monty talk about Miller, and guess what he might be up to. Raven is naming all sorts of people that Jasper doesn’t know, but keeps circling back to seeing Abby. Murphy, Emori, and Echo don’t really seem to care. Jasper himself is excited to see everyone, but a little apprehensive. He’s not sure how many times he can deal with explaining how he’s alive. Luna clearly feels the same, especially given the circumstances of her supposed death. She’s probably going to steer clear of Octavia for a little while. He’s not really sure what to make of Octavia anymore. Apparently she’s queen of the grounders now, which isn’t all that much of a surprise because she regularly terrified him, but his mind keeps drifting back to the girl who kissed him on the floor of the dropship and chased after butterflies. Even if he doesn’t want to kiss her anymore (that ship has well and truly sailed) he sort of misses that girl. She was fun and sweet and she always made him smile.

 

After breakfast, Jasper hops into the driver’s seat, Luna next to him, and heads towards the miner’s ship. Their group are waiting outside with equipment, looking hesitant. They’re kind of a threat now if they want to be, holding all sorts of stuff that Jasper doesn’t know the names of, but makes Raven’s eyes gleam. They’ve been back to Polis a few times to try and unearth the bunker, and they make the odd return for bits and pieces that survived the death wave, so Jasper knows the way pretty well.

 

The backseat of the rover is currently all of his group. It seems like the miners are being made to walk, which seems fair enough after they abducted Monty and Emori, although they do load their equipment into the back. Raven is explaining what some of it is, but he’s not really listening.

 

When they finally arrive at Polis and Luna leads them to the rubble on top of the bunker, Jasper sees the others deflate. It’s going to take a long time to dig everyone out. They wouldn’t have been able to do it at all without the miners, who are currently surveying the area looking dubious. Jasper wants to go home. They’ve left the green spot and now they’re in a horrible burnt area that only reminds everyone of the devastation. There’s just enough growing that they can feed themselves for the next few days, but it’s certainly going to drag the mood down.

 

They find they can’t really help the miners for the next few hours, although Raven joins in as best she can trying to navigate the rubble with her leg. “I think we can get them out within the week,” she tells Jasper, wiping sweat from her forehead. “Their tech is so cool! It’s really advanced, shame Becca sent it all away on their ship. I’d have loved to work with this stuff.”

 

Jasper just grins and nods at her. The last tech mission he’d gone on with Raven was removing a chip from her head, so it’s nice to see her having fun. As she disappears off again, he turns back to the group. He’s found himself sitting with Harper and Emori, mostly because Bellamy and Clarke have whisked Madi away to look for plants, and are probably about to informally adopt her. Monty’s gone somewhere with Murphy. They seemed to be playfully debating as they wandered off. Jasper supposes they’re friends now, and he feels a little disappointed that he’s missed so much. “Jasper?” Harper asks. “You okay?”

 

“I’m good,” he replies, not turning to look at her. “Just a lot of people.”

 

“I get that,” she says gently, because she’s been in space with only seven other people for six years. It’s been difficult for her too. “You know we kept getting weird signals from Earth?” she continues after a minute. “That was you?”

 

“Yeah,” he smiles. “It was like a diary. I just told you guys stuff I wanted you to hear. And some stuff I didn’t, actually.”

 

“Anything for me?” Harper’s tone is lighter now.

 

“I apologised,” Jasper admits, feeling a tiny bit lighter now that he can finally say all this to Harper. “I was a complete dick to you, then you joined my DNR group and I don’t think you wanted to, I just-”

 

“I wanted to,” says Harper, and it’s a sad admission. “You didn’t force me or anyone there into anything, Jasper. I made my choice, then I changed my mind. Don’t put that on yourself.”

 

“Cool.” He turns his head to smile at her. “I also said a lot of stuff to you about Monty. I didn’t know you guys had broken up. When did that happen?”

 

“I’m not sure exactly,” she says. “I think it was kinda over once you- once he thought you were dead, but then no one really said anything, so-”

 

“Oh. Sorry.”

 

“It sucked,” she confesses. “But mostly, I was just worried about him. We’re still close, anyway.” Jasper’s not sure how to reply to that, so there’s a silence before she continues. “Look, you and Monty-”

 

“What about us?” Jasper says, and his voice is way too high for it to sound casual.

 

“I just mean- whatever’s going on with you two, I know you’re more than friends, whatever you are. You don’t have to feel guilty about me or anything. It’s kinda always been there.”

 

“It’s pretty blatant,” Emori chips in at last. “Also, I don’t know what was going on on top of the rover the other night, but you guys looked pretty flustered when you came back.”

 

“What?” Harper grins. “How have I not heard about this?”

 

“I’m no snitch,” Emori answers.

 

“Nothing happened,” Jasper says to cut off Harper’s outraged response, because he’s not sure if Monty would want him saying anything. He’s pretty sure the others are already on his case. Emori and Harper both look ready to call bullshit, but the bang of the miners blowing up a giant pile of rubble distracts them long enough for Jasper to change the topic pretty quickly. “I hope they’re okay in there. They can probably hear this racket.”

 

“They must know we’re rescuing them,” Harper says. “And I’m sure they’re okay. Octavia is their leader after all.”

 

“You guys sure have a lot of faith in her,” Emori says faintly. Jasper is dimly aware that Emori isn’t on the best terms with anyone in the bunker. She’ll probably just steer clear of them. Before he can defend Octavia, Murphy jogs up to them and greets Emori in a way Jasper firmly believes should not have taken place in front of him and Harper. Monty is behind him, looking equally uncomfortable but also resigned to it. Jasper hops off the rover to join him as Harper gently pokes him in the back. “You okay?” he asks, as they wander vaguely away from the rover.

 

“Yeah,” Monty answers. “Murphy wanted to know if Luna and Raven are hooking up?”

 

Jasper snorts. “I see that! It’s a shame there’s nothing left to trade, we could have had a bet!”

 

“Shame,” Monty says, wiping away a mock tear.

 

“Is that all he wanted?” Jasper is slightly suspicious of the amount of times Monty has disappeared with the others lately.

 

“Nah,” Monty admits. “He said I looked permanently freaked out, then compared me to a baby deer on steroids.”

 

“Charming.”

 

“He has a weird way of showing he cares. Hey, are any of the others around?” Monty cranes his neck.

 

“Nope, just us. Why?”

 

Monty blushes a little. “Kinda wanted to kiss you again.”

 

Jasper laughs and pulls him in closer. “We can do that.”

 

“Stop talking,” Monty teases, and gently tugs his shirt so he can kiss him softly. Jasper smiles against his lips. It took six years to get here, and he’s not about to mess it up by trying to move too fast, so he just lets Monty take the lead.

 

After a minute, Monty breaks away and rests his head against Jasper’s. “You’re okay with not telling anyone yet, right?”

 

“They’d be weird about it,” Jasper replies. “But I think they think it’s coming.”

 

“We should get back,” Monty decides, slowly pulling away. “They’re gonna start wondering.”

 

Jasper agrees, following Monty. As much as he loves how much his friends care about this, he wishes they could mind their own business a little bit more.

 

There’s going to be plenty of time for this soon, he tells himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank god for luna, right? maybe reuniting after 6 years isn't that easy after all :( that's definitely something that should be addressed properly, right? ;)
> 
> tumblr: spacekru-monty


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's bunker time gang

The work on the bunker takes longer than a week. Jasper ends up having to take a few trips back to the green spot in the rover for supplies because the area is so barren. He takes Madi and Luna with him most of the time, and on one occasion, Monty. They chat as they fish down at the lake, and Jasper hopes it isn’t just wishful thinking that makes him feel that the tension is seeping out to be replaced with the same easy friendship they used to have. Except now they kiss sometimes too. That’s getting easier as well, and Jasper finds he can kiss Monty naturally and casually without it having to follow a deep discussion. Monty doesn’t withdraw as much either. They’re still definitely not ready to take things any further, but it seems to be getting easier to talk about as the days go by.

 

When they return to the site of the bunker with supplies, there’s an excited buzz in the air. As they draw up, Bellamy flies towards the door of the rover and pulls it open. “We’re getting them out today!” he says, eyes shining. “As soon as we get this last bit away from the door, we can start evacuating.”

 

“Yes!” Monty cheers, throwing his arms around Bellamy. “How long?”

 

“A couple of hours? I asked Raven and she told me to shut up whilst she built something.” Bellamy shrugs. “We don’t know how to tell them we shifted the rubble though, so we have to break the door too.”

 

“Nice.” Jasper hops out of the rover. “They might need to travel back with us for a bit, but stuff is growing here. The area’s sustainable, especially if they have supplies left in the bunker.”

 

“Cool,” Bellamy clearly isn’t really listening. He’s thinking about his sister. Behind him, Jasper can see Clarke leaning over Raven and asking her questions. Raven looks impatient, and Jasper can’t hear what she’s saying, but he knows it’ll be a thinly veiled plea to be left alone. Harper’s bouncing around from person to person, a bright smile on her face. He’s reminded of a calendar that used to be up in his house on the Ark with different puppies. She looks like the golden retriever they had every July. The others could be just about anywhere. He understands their need to stay away, but he hopes that whoever has her brings Madi back soon because she’ll be upset if she misses the first possible opportunity to meet these people.

 

It’s nearly night when they’re finally ready to blow the doors open. Jasper is sat on the rover with Murphy, Emori, Luna, and Echo. The others have all wandered closer for the grand Blowing Up Of Some Metal. “Everyone back!” Raven calls, apparently having taken over the operation some time ago. “We’re ready!”

 

The group scatters, and there’s an ear-shattering bang which makes Madi shriek in surprise and Echo leap two feet in the air. Jasper disguises his own startled reaction with laughter at the two of them. The doors are wide open, one hanging off its hinges slightly. There’s a weird smattering of applause from the miners, followed by a whoop from Raven and then the sounds of relieved laughter.

 

The explosion must have alerted the people inside the bunker to their situation because within seconds, Octavia appears at the lip of the door. There’s a moment where she hovers there, frozen in shock, staring at Bellamy, then she scrambles out. She stands for a moment, breathes in the warm evening air, and Jasper is half expecting her to shout ‘we’re back bitches!’ but she says nothing, just runs straight to Bellamy and hugs him.

 

He can’t hear whatever they say to each other, and within seconds, he can’t even see them as people suddenly flood the area that had been so silent for so long. There are grounders whooping, throwing themselves to the ground and feeling something other than metal after so long. The next familiar face he sees is Niylah, the grounder girl who had helped them hide Raven during the crisis with ALIE. She’s holding the hand of another girl and laughing, stamping on the ground in old worn-out boots. Then there’s Indra, helping some weaker looking people climb out. Abby, hugging Clarke and sobbing, with Kane watching on. Miller, squeezing Monty hard and shouting something, Jackson at his side.

 

Then there’s hundreds of other faces he can’t even begin to process. There definitely aren’t 1200 people here, which he supposes was to be expected, given how long it’s been. People must have died in there.

 

It’s still too much. Jasper feels a faint panic rise in his throat, and turns to Luna and tells her “Don’t follow me,” before hurrying off into the woods. Without really thinking about it, he ends up in the same place he and Monty had been the week before. Sliding down the tree trunk, he sits on the cool ground and takes deep breaths. He’s glad the bunker has been liberated, but it’s been so long since he’s seen so many faces, he needs to take a break for a minute to get used to it.

 

He sits for a minute, feeling the anxiety slowly leave his body before he hears “Jasper?” Monty is hovering awkwardly nearby, watching him. “You okay?”

 

“Too many people,” Jasper shrugs. “It’s a lot.”

 

Monty nods in understanding, taking a seat near Jasper, not getting too close. “Tired of people looking like they saw a ghost?”

 

“Exactly!” Of course Monty would get that.

 

“I told Miller you were alive. I was gonna point you out, but then I couldn’t find you. He was starting to look kinda concerned.”

 

“Sucks. They look at me like I’m a ghost, and they look at you like you’re about to break.”

 

Monty laughs. “We screwed up there, I guess.”

 

Jasper stretches out his arms to indicate Monty should come closer. “We have bad track records. Sorry for freaking out and abandoning the group,” he whispers.

 

“No big deal,” Monty says. “We can go back when you’re ready. Or I could leave now, if you want.”

 

“Stay,” Jasper says softly, curling his fingers around the soft fabric of Monty’s sweater. He moves his other hand up to Monty’s cheek and brushes it gently before kissing him. Monty leans into him, and his touch is so reassuring that Jasper pulls him as close as he can, laughing slightly at his little squeak of surprise. It goes on like that for a minute before Jasper gently slips his hands under Monty’s shirt and runs a hand down his warm back. This is the closest they’ve ever been.

 

He pulls back enough to see Monty’s face, giving him a quietly questioning look. Monty nods softly but certainly, and leans in again as Jasper starts to fiddle with the buttons. When he pulls his own shirt off, Monty’s eyes flicker first over the spear scar and then to the tattoo on his shoulder. He looks a little surprised, then kisses Jasper hard, hand running down his arm.

 

Later, when they lie side by side against the big tree in the clearing, Jasper says quietly “I think we should head back. Luna will be worrying.”

 

“Good point,” Monty sighs, pulling himself upright.

 

“Do you need help with your buttons?” Jasper gestures vaguely at his shirt.

 

“Thanks,” Monty says gratefully, smoothing his hair down. Jasper says nothing, just focuses on doing up Monty’s shirt. “I’d rather you than the others again.”

 

“I think they’d want to know why your shirt was unbuttoned!” Jasper smiles, finishing re-buttoning Monty’s shirt. “Okay, you’re good.”

 

They make their way back to the bunker as conspicuously as they can. The area is still filled with enough people that they’re not noticed straight away, though the crowd seems to have thinned a little. Jasper suspects some grounders took off straight away, and some must have returned inside.

 

Octavia is still outside, a little detached from the people- her people- that mill around. She’s standing with Bellamy and Clarke, smiling along at whatever they’re saying, but she seems distracted. When she sees them, her eyes light up and she flies across the crowd to wrap Jasper in a hug. “They told me you were here!” she says into his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I really thought-”

 

“So did everyone.” Jasper pats her back. “Um, did they tell you-”

 

“About Luna?” Octavia grimaces. “Yeah. I’ll deal with that. At some point. It’s so good to see you!”

 

“She’s not a bad person,” Jasper says defensively.

 

“What does that even mean now?” Octavia says darkly, and he shrugs because he doesn’t really have an answer. She turns to Monty and gives him a quick hug. They’re chatting, but her eyes keep drifting back to Jasper. He’s so glad to see her, to know for sure that she’s alive, that he pushes aside the creeping doubt that something is a little bit off.

 

Now that he’s hanging around in plain sight, other people start to notice him. Abby and Kane, who are apparently still going strong, come over and offer him hugs like they’re his parents. They ask a bunch of questions, which Jasper reels off the answers to, then tell him how glad they are to see him. Abby offers him help whenever he needs it, and Kane tells him he’s strong, which he’s not entirely sure he believes. Miller, to his credit, asks no questions, just gives Jasper a hug then carries on like he never thought he was dead for six years. Even Niylah, who Jasper has only met a few times, and always under weird circumstances, smiles and nods at him.

 

When the rain starts, they shepherd the group back into the bunker, though a cautious Luna and a frankly overwhelmed Madi return to the rover. Jasper intends to spend the night with them, following the people back into the bunker mostly so he can see what the last six years have been like.

 

He was right to think he would have hated living there. It’s nothing like the world he’s become so used to. It’s cold and sterile, flooded with stark artificial lighting. As what remains of Skaikru congregate, Jasper notices a significant missing face. “Octavia,” he asks, fairly casually, “Jaha here anywhere?”

 

Octavia’s face changes to something he’s not seen before. It’s suddenly very obvious that she’s six years older, forced into leadership at 18. “Jaha is dead,” she says stiffly. “He couldn’t adjust to this lifestyle.”

 

That sends shivers down Jasper’s spine. Looking around, he sees Jackson say something softly to Miller, eyes wide, and Kane and Abby looking uncomfortable. Something bad has happened down here, he’s certain of it. Something that’s set Octavia on a wildly different course to the rest of them.

 

The conversation never quite gets back on track after that, so Monty nods to him and they head back outside to the rover. “Are you sure you didn’t want to stay in there?” Jasper asks, handing him a blanket, with Luna and Madi watching curiously.

 

“Pretty sure,” Monty says. “It’s freaking me out a bit.”

 

He nods in agreement and settles down to sleep. They’ve saved the people in the bunker, but he’s not sure the rescue mission is over yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah look at that something vaguely dramatic actually happened? octavia girl, what did you do?
> 
> i'm off on holiday for a week this sunday so expect either everything up by then or tumbleweeds for a week whilst i die of wi-fi deprivation in a cottage somewhere
> 
> tumblr: spacekru-monty


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> back at my computer after a week away and we are nearing the end of this fic (but not my denial). next update will probably be the last if i can wrap it all up well

Echo had been right about Azgeda. They leave the next morning, along with large numbers of people from other clans, and the miners move in. Most of the others stay living in the bunker. It’s a home to them now, Jasper supposes, and everyone is sick of leaving homes behind. That’s also the reason he stays living in the rover with Madi and Luna. They do take Madi into the bunker one night in case she might like it, but she instantly declares claustrophobia.

 

Monty moves in with them too. He seems to be returning to the Monty that Jasper knew before everything went wrong, although he’ll always be a bit different, but then again, so is Jasper. They don’t really do all that much for a while, there are too many people around and they’re still trying to keep it quiet. It doesn’t matter all that much. Monty gets along brilliantly with Luna and Madi, slotting straight into a role Jasper didn’t even know their little group was missing. He’s one of the family now. He had always been one of Jasper’s family, but it’s nice to know that he fits in with Luna and Madi too.

 

A few days after liberating the bunker, Jasper wakes in the early morning to a gentle knocking on the rover door. Assuming it’s Luna, who had snuck out late the night before, probably to find Raven, he climbs over Monty and Madi to unlock it. To his surprise, Octavia is the figure in the doorway, shifting awkwardly. “Jasper,” she says after a pause. “Can I borrow you?”

 

“Luna’s not here if that’s why you’re making that face,” Jasper tells her, dropping out of the back of the rover. “Unless there’s something else?”

 

“It was partly that,” Octavia sighs. “I don’t hate her. I just don’t know what to say to her.”

 

“Sorry I stabbed you?” Jasper suggests, grinning a little.

 

“Yeah, that’ll do it. That’s not actually what I wanted to talk to you about, though.”

 

“Oh.” Jasper had really expected that to be the topic of conversation. “If this is about Monty again, I swear-”

 

“It’s about Jaha,” Octavia admits.

 

“Jaha?” Jasper is a little surprised at this. Other than his death, the topic of Jaha has been avoided for the last few days. It’s not like people are being secretive, but Jasper suspects that if anyone asked, they wouldn’t get a truthful answer. “What about him?”

 

“You can’t tell Bellamy any of this,” she warns him. “He’ll freak out.”

 

“My lips are sealed. Why are you telling _me_ , though?”

 

That coaxes a smile out of her. “You’re my friend and I missed you,” she says. “I know I didn’t show it well, but I always thought you had the right idea, and after Lincoln-” She tenses a little at the name. “You got it because of-” There’s an uncomfortable pause.

 

“Maya,” Jasper fills in. “You can talk about her. I like talking about her.”

 

“That’s good,” Octavia nods. “This isn’t about Maya, though, and if we keep talking about her, then I’ll lose my nerve.”

 

“You? Really?”

 

“Shut up. Okay, so-” Octavia takes a deep breath. “I should never have been their Commander. It’s so hard being a leader. No wonder Bellamy and Clarke were so stressed all the time! Anyway, the first few years, I was handling it. Indra was the best help I could’ve asked for. But Jaha was- he couldn’t adjust. He couldn’t deal with not being in a position of power, or the whole Wonkru deal. That’s why he’s dead.”

 

“Octavia,” Jasper says slowly. “What happened to Jaha?”

 

“I gave him a choice,” she replies. “He was causing dissent. Encouraging further rations and cullings. He was going to destroy everything we fought to save. I couldn’t let him do that.”

 

“Octavia-”

 

“It wasn’t violent. I didn’t want him to be a martyr. He died in his sleep.”

 

“Okay.” That’s all Jasper is getting out of her, he can tell. Jaha might not have been the only one to meet this fate, he suspects. Octavia's grimace does not ease this worry. “Who knows about this?”

 

“Indra. Abby and Jackson, but only because they were the doctors. Jackson probably told Miller.”

 

“Right. Are you ever going to tell the others this?”

 

“Abby will tell Clarke. Clarke will tell Bellamy. It doesn’t matter what I do.” She glances at him. “But I wanted to tell someone myself, and I know I can trust you.”

 

“Always.” Jasper agrees. “I’ve got your back, Octavia.” He’s a little shaken by this revelation, but he understands what needed to be done. Letting Jaha continue would have resulted in far more deaths. It was a difficult choice, but the only one she could have made.

 

Octavia heads back to the bunker after that, wanting to return before her absence is noticed. It’s hard for her, Jasper knows. None of them should have been thrown into leadership so young, under such terrible circumstances. He was lucky there, he supposes. The others will find out soon enough, and they won’t be willing to drop it. He doesn’t know much about how Octavia’s leading them now, but he can tell she needs help doing so.

 

Monty and Madi are still asleep in the rover when he returns. He adjusts Madi’s blanket, which she seems to have kicked off, and curls up next to Monty. He gets a few more hours of sleep before Luna returns, a little flustered, and it’s time to get up.

 

The days now are mostly spent drifting about, gathering supplies and moving them into the bunker. With no pressing deadline or war to fight, it starts to feel almost like a normal world again. They largely ignore the fact that they are literally all that’s left.

 

The lack of responsibilities does mean that he can sneak off with Monty. They disappear from time to time to the clearing in the woods where they kissed, and although the roof of the rover is a little bit too open to actually do anything, they lie there sometimes and usually escape anyone’s notice. It’s a pretty stable thing now, and Monty kisses Jasper without hesitation or that sad look in his eyes.

 

They talk about Maya one day, both wrapped in blankets due to the cold early evening air, sitting in the grass. “I wrote her name on my wall,” Monty tells him. He’s already explained the wall to Jasper, and it sounds awful, but he’s glad that Murphy was there (which he never thought he’d say) and that it seems to be in the past. “She was a good friend.” Monty says quietly.

 

“I do miss her sometimes,” Jasper confesses. “It’s like- she was my first love, right? And that doesn’t mean I can’t love other people, but I can’t forget about her.”

 

“She was special,” Monty replies. “She deserved better than what she got.”

 

“She did. But I think she’d be proud of us.”

 

“I’m sure she is. Wherever she is now.” Monty smiles a little up at the sky. “I’m glad you can talk about it now.”

 

“It’s been over six years. Gotta get on with your life sometime, right?” That had been a lesson it took him a long time to learn.

 

“Totally,” Monty nods. “Except make sure a person is definitely dead before you go through the whole grieving process, right?”

 

Jasper throws grass at his head, laughing. “That’s the most important part.”

 

“We’re 22, why are you throwing grass at me?” Monty is laughing too, despite the question.

 

Jasper is about to make a snarky reply when the distant sound of shouting reaches them. “That sounds like it’s coming from the bunker area,” he frowns.

 

“Not good!” Monty replies, bouncing to his feet and hurrying away. Jasper follows, concerned.

 

When they arrive back at Polis, the source of the noise is clear straight away. Bellamy and Octavia are standing by the bunker doors, looking furious. They’ve lowered their voices now, but it’s a bit too late to be subtle, and almost everyone who had been outside is watching. There’s probably another group cowering in the bunker. “Indra!” Jasper calls, seeing her amongst the crowd. “Can’t you stop this?”

 

“She’s not listening, Jasper,” Indra says gravely. “It’s about Jaha.”

 

“Jaha?” Monty asks, and Jasper wonders if he should explain.

 

“Go ahead,” Indra says, reading his mind. “I think everyone else already heard.”

 

Jasper is about to tell Monty what he knows when the argument gets louder again. “You don’t understand what it was like!” Octavia tells Bellamy. “You led the 100 for six months on the ground! I led 1200 people for six years!”

 

“Octavia, in space-”

 

“You couldn’t deal with your own feelings,” Octavia’s voice is harsh. “You had seven people to look after and you barely managed it!”

 

“We all made it down.”

 

“Monty and Emori were abducted right under your nose, and from what I’ve heard, it’s a damn miracle Monty lasted that long!”

 

Jasper hears Monty’s sharp intake of breath next to him and decides to draw a line. “Octavia, that’s _enough._ ” He steps forward, hands out. Octavia turns to see him and Monty and guilt flickers across her face. This, rather than Jasper's intervention, is what makes the fight go out of her.

 

“Oh God, Monty-”

 

“Just stop fighting,” Monty says tightly. “None of that was Bellamy’s responsibility.”

 

“Monty is right,” Jasper continues, seeing that Monty clearly doesn’t want to speak anymore. “Octavia’s right too. It’s been difficult for both of you, and you don’t understand the challenges, so stop acting like you know what happened.”

 

There’s a long silence. Everyone is holding their breath. Eventually, Octavia says “I’m sorry, Bellamy. You too, Monty. That wasn’t fair.”

 

“Sorry, O.” Bellamy replies. “I think we should try and discuss this rationally.”

 

“Yeah.” There’s still a lot to talk about, Jasper can tell. Octavia needs to talk about it, and Bellamy needs to listen, but it isn’t his place to help anymore.

 

The crowd starts to disperse, and before Jasper can check on Monty, Murphy swoops in to lead him away. Jasper can vaguely hear threats towards Octavia as Monty half-heartedly tries to stop him. Raven and Luna disappear into the bunker, and as much as he’d quite like to talk to one of them right now, he’s not getting in the way of that. Instead, he approaches Indra and Niylah. “Thanks for stepping in, Jasper.” Niylah tells him. “That was about to get really nasty.”

 

“I think it did,” Jasper replies, sighing.

 

“Bellamy was unfair,” Indra says. “Octavia didn’t have a choice.”

 

“Agreed. But bringing up Monty wasn’t fair either.”

 

“He okay?” Niylah asks.

 

“He doesn’t really like talking about the Ark. It was difficult for him, you know?”

 

Niylah nods in understanding, but then hurries off towards the girl he had seen her with when they first got out, leaving him alone with Indra. He’s a little intimidated, but she seems to have the right idea. “Octavia struggles with understanding that kind of viewpoint.” Indra says eventually. “She’s never been suicidal.”

 

“I have,” Jasper says quietly.

 

“I know. Though I was under the impression you were dead.”

 

“Who wasn’t? But I know how hard it’s been, and it wasn’t Bellamy’s job to fix him or me. She just needs to know what she can say.”

 

“You’re stronger than you look,” Indra sounds amused as she surveys him.

 

“I had to be. Luna saved me, and it wasn’t like I could sneak away from her in a tiny bunker. By the time I had the option, I didn’t really want to anymore.”

 

“I’m glad. We still need you here.”

 

“Yeah,” Jasper replies, looking out at the people. “You do.”

 

Indra leaves not long after that, taking on Octavia’s duties whilst she talks to Bellamy. Jasper hovers a little awkwardly. Monty and Murphy still haven’t returned, and Luna and Raven deserve some time without him. He could join Clarke, but eventually opts to sit on a giant overhanging piece of rubble with Madi. She seems slightly shaken by the whole thing, and Jasper is concerned about throwing her into this new world. “Hey, you!” he says, shifting to find a comfortable position. “Doing okay?”

 

“Hi, Jasper! I’m okay.” Madi seems a lot older than 13. Jasper supposes it’s possible she is older than that and lost track somewhere along the way. It’s probably just the fact that she hasn’t known any other children since Praimfaya. There’s a remarkable calmness about her as she watches the group. “I met a boy called Ethan. He’s my age. I haven’t known anyone my age in years.”

 

“Just me and Luna for company starting to sound less and less appealing, right?” Jasper pokes her shoulder. “He won’t be as smart as you, you’re gonna have to teach him stuff.”

 

She laughs. “Apparently the Jaha guy adopted him. His actual dad- well, Praimfaya.” She shrugs. “I think he heard what happened to Jaha.”

 

“Just now? That’s tough.”

 

“He must be sad. And angry.” Madi scrunches her face into a frown. Jasper is about to reply when he sees a familiar face in the crowd. Murphy, talking to Emori.

 

“One minute, Mads,” he tells her, then drops from the piece of rubble to approach him. “Murphy! Did Monty go inside?”

 

Murphy turns, looking surprised. “I thought he came to find you?”

 

“No, I was with Madi.” Jasper feels something twist in his gut.

 

“Maybe he didn’t see you. Were you behind something or-?”

 

“We’ve been sat on the rubble, I’d have seen him straight away.” Jasper replies quietly. “When did he say he was coming to find me?”

 

“Ages ago. We only talked for like ten minutes, then he told me he wanted to find you. You really haven’t seen him?” Murphy and Emori are starting to look concerned.

 

“Could he have got lost?” Emori asks. “He won’t know these woods well, and it’s getting dark.”

 

“We didn’t go that far, it would only take five minutes to get back. It wasn’t dark when he left. _Shit._ ” Murphy swears.

 

“Get the others,” Jasper says faintly, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “We’re going to find him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why follow monty into the woods when you could follow my tumblr 
> 
> spacekru-monty


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey folks here we are at the end of the road

“Check the bunker,” Murphy says. “Just be sure he’s not around here somewhere.”

 

Jasper isn’t really listening. He sprints to the door of the bunker and slips inside, racing down the corridor to Octavia’s office and throwing the door open. Inside, Bellamy and Octavia look up, startled. “Jasper, can it wait?” Octavia starts. “We-”

 

“It can’t wait. Monty’s missing.” Jasper hears the crack in his own voice at that.

 

“What?” Octavia leaps to her feet.

 

“He went for a walk with Murphy. Told him he was coming back to find me. He didn’t. That was ages ago.” He tries to calm his breathing as best he can.

 

“Right, let’s go.” Bellamy slings his jacket back on and heads for the door. Octavia makes to follow him.

 

“Are you coming?” Jasper asks.

 

She stops, looking angry. “This is probably my fault. I’m fixing it.”

 

He’s too freaked out to argue, so he just nods. “Find the people who went to space. I’ll get Raven.” Jasper tells her, and Octavia agrees, disappearing down the corridor. By some incredible stroke of luck, he doesn’t need to figure out which room Raven is in. She’s already in the hallway, presumably making her way back outside.

 

Her face brightens when she sees him. “Jasper! You’re never in here!”

 

“Monty’s run off,” he tells her, not bothering to recount the whole story.

 

To her credit, Raven only looks shocked for a moment before her face sets in determination. “We need to go right now,” she says. “Before it gets too dark and cold.”

 

“He was upset,” Jasper says weakly.

 

“Jasper. We’ll find him. He’ll be okay.” Her words are reassuring, but there’s a flash of uncertainty in her eyes. “Let’s go outside, the others are already out there.”

 

There’s already commotion outside. “Why is _she_ coming?” Echo points at Octavia. “She’s the last person Monty wants to see right now!”

 

“I’m trying to make it right! If I’m there to apologise, it’ll be more believable!” Octavia argues.

 

“You’re the reason anything’s wrong!” Echo’s fists are clenched.

 

“Why are you even still here? Your clan left!”

 

“They’re not my people,” Echo replies coldly. “These are my people. Monty is my people, and _you-_ ”

 

“Shut up!” Harper steps in, placing a hand on Echo’s elbow. “There isn’t time for this. And it’s not just about Octavia! He’s barely been coping for a long time. This is on all of us.”

 

The group is silent as they take it in. “Right,” Emori says eventually. “Chances are, he’s still in the woods. We shouldn’t split up, so we need to move fast.”

 

“If he-” Clarke starts.

 

“He’ll be fine,” Bellamy says shortly. “He has to be.”

 

Jasper gives up on listening to their conversation and gestures to start walking. The woods are dark and thick. Not a good place for someone upset to wander alone. “It’s going to rain,” Echo says grimly, staring at the sky. “Does he have a coat?”

 

“He’s in that stupid thin jacket again,” Murphy grumbles. “If the idiot makes himself sick-”

 

“He’s not an idiot,” Jasper says softly.Murphy doesn’t reply, just cups his hands around his mouth and shouts for Monty. The others join in before Emori shushes them.

 

“You’re not gonna be able to hear him reply if you’re all shouting,” she says irritably.

 

“Good point,” Bellamy replies, and they all go quiet, but the night is silent. Monty’s not replying. Jasper feels like screaming. Raven must see the distress on his face because she crosses over to him and squeezes his arm. “Don’t worry, Jasper. We’ll fix this.”

 

He swallows hard. “Yeah. It’s just- I always panicked before, without Monty, then I got him back and now he’s gone away again and-”

 

“I get it, Jasper. Things weren’t easy for you, or him. But you’ve been spending loads of time together lately and-”

 

“The clearing!” Jasper blurts out, heart leaping.

 

“The what now?” Raven furrows her brow.

 

“It’s where we always go when we- talk.” Jasper finishes a little unconvincingly, but that’s not important right now. “He must have gone there.”

 

“Sounds like a good bet. Guys!” Raven claps to get their attention. “Jasper has an idea!” The others turn around and Jasper swallows, all attention on him. “Jasper?”

 

“There’s a clearing. Not far from here, like five minutes? We go there all the time.”

 

“Then let’s go. Jasper, lead the way.” As Harper speaks, there’s a clap of thunder above them and rain starts pouring down. Everyone adjusts their jackets, shivering and staring up at the sky with concern written across their faces.

 

Jasper leads them towards the clearing as quickly as he can, hopping over the logs and holes in the ground with practiced ease. When they arrive, Jasper scans the clearing desperately for a few moments, looking for anything that might indicate that someone has at least been there recently.

 

He feels the relief rush through him with ridiculous intensity when he sees the familiar shape of someone sat up against a rock. He barely takes the time to point him out to the others before skidding across the wet grass towards Monty. “Monty!” Jasper calls, and Monty jumps in surprise, before turning to see him. “Monty, are you okay?” His hands grab Monty’s shoulders as he checks him for injuries. He’s about to conclude that Monty is unhurt before he sees his hands. The old scar tissue has been scratched open, and the skin is angry red with beads of blood forming. “ _Ai niron,_ what did you do?” Jasper whispers so that only Monty can hear, and Monty drops his forehead against Jasper’s. In the background, he sees Emori and Echo share a look, but them finding out is the least of his concerns right now.

 

“Oh no, Monty! Look at you!” Harper’s speaking now, pushing wet blonde hair out of her eyes and moving to kneel on the ground with them. “Let’s get you home.”

 

“Come on, you.” Bellamy helps Monty to his feet, carefully avoiding his hands. “We were so worried!”

 

“Sorry,” Monty says softly. “It was sort of an accident.” Bellamy nods reassuringly, using his sleeve to wipe some of the rain from Monty’s face. Octavia hangs back, uncomfortable. Monty hasn’t seen her yet, Jasper thinks. Eventually, she speaks up. “I’m so sorry,” she says, and Monty’s shoulders tense. “I said that without thinking. I didn’t mean it. I’m glad you’re okay.”

 

“I’m not okay,” Monty replies, and Jasper remembers a fight from years ago with a pang. If history is repeating itself, he’s determined that this confession will have the proper response. “I know,” he tells Monty, and Murphy raises a cynical eyebrow at his bluntness. “We’ll get there. Let’s just get back to the bunker first.”

 

He nods, cradling his poor hurt hands to his stomach. “Thanks.” He manages a small smile, then nods at Octavia. He’s not forgetting about it, but Jasper knows that Monty understands why she said it, and that he isn’t going to drag out any drama. As they traipse back towards the bunker, Jasper wonders what this mess means for them. It’s a selfish thought probably, but he’s too exhausted to chase it away.

 

He trails behind where Bellamy and Harper are helping Monty walk, unsure if he should help. At the door of the bunker, he swallows these insecurities and steps forward to help Monty stumble through. Octavia, finally with something to do, takes the lead to bring them to the med bay. It’s a large room down what feels like hundreds of winding corridors that sort of reminds Jasper of the Ark. The one time he’d been to the med bay there is a distant memory now, but the brightly lit room still brings a wave of nostalgia for when everything was so ridiculously simple. “Jackson!” Octavia shouts, jogging over to a little door off the side that must lead to Jackson’s quarters and rapping her fist against it. “Jackson, if you’re having sex in there, you have ten seconds to put your pants on before I open the door.” The door opens a few seconds later, and Jasper sees a flash of who he thinks might be Miller laughing from a couch. Wow, he’d missed a lot.

 

“I was _not_ having sex, Octavia, I just-” Jackson stops in his tracks when he sees Monty curled into himself at the door, hands held out at an awkward angle. His manner shifts from casual and slightly indignant to a firm but reassuring tone. “Come in, Monty. You can sit on the bed.”

 

“Is my mom around?” Clarke glances across the room.

 

“It’s been six years, Clarke. I’m a doctor now, I can handle it.” There’s light humour in Jackson’s voice. “Nate?” he calls. “Mind helping? I’d get Niylah but I’m not sure where she is.” Miller appears in the doorway, eyes scanning Monty quickly, face sinking as he starts to put the pieces together. “You a nurse, Miller?” Bellamy looks vaguely amused.

 

“Kinky,” Murphy mutters.

 

“Shut it, Murphy. And no, all I can do is carry bandages from one side of the room to the other, but I’m here now so it’ll do.” Miller rifles through a cabinet. “It’s been awhile since there’s been a patient in here. Literally nothing happens.”

 

“Okay, everyone out.” Jackson shoos them away. Jasper hovers for a second before Raven grabs his wrist and pulls him through the door. They’re left in a small waiting room that definitely wasn’t made to hold a group of their size but it’s clear that no one wants to leave without Monty. There’s a few moments of silence where no one knows quite what to say before Bellamy makes a strange, gasping sound. When Jasper looks at him, there are tears in his eyes. “Bellamy?” he asks quietly. “You okay?” When he doesn’t reply, Jasper pulls himself from his seat and gestures for Bellamy to follow him into the deserted halls.

 

“I keep letting people down,” Bellamy whispers. “Octavia was right, I let you choose to stay behind and die, and I let Monty destroy himself over it. Now Octavia’s done all these things that I couldn’t help her with, and Monty’s hurt and-”

 

“Bellamy, stop!” Jasper puts his hand on his elbow. He’s starting to realise exactly the effect his ‘death’ has had, on people like Bellamy who hold onto guilt for so long, and people like Octavia and Monty who lost the last of their faith in the world they had loved so much. “You can’t blame yourself for other people’s choices.”

 

“I was supposed to look after all of you,” Bellamy sighs. “We lost you and we nearly lost Monty.”

 

“But you _didn’t_. We’re both here, alive. If you feel like you need to make amends, you can do that.”

 

“I’m so sorry,” Bellamy crumples, leaning into Jasper. “You, Monty, Octavia. You’re my responsibility and I fucked up and you almost-”

 

“You have to forgive yourself, Bellamy.” Jasper feels a little bit weird, being the rational one comforting Bellamy. “I forgive you.”

 

“Okay,” he says softly, forcing a smile. “Thank you, Jasper.”

 

Before Jasper can press any further, Clarke appears in the corridor. “Hey. Monty’s fine. Jackson bandaged his hands. You okay?”

 

“Yeah,” Bellamy replies, and Jasper slips back into the waiting room to give them some privacy. The door to the med bay has been propped open and the group have wandered in. Monty is talking to Miller about something that’s making him laugh. Jasper’s grateful for that. Miller’s blunt humour seems to be doing a much better job than the awkward dancing around or downright avoiding the topics that upset him. He has a wedding band, Jasper notices. It’s easy to forget sometimes that they’re all adults now, and everyone else has spent these years with other people. Pushing that thought aside, he heads over. “These make your hands look giant,” he jokes weakly to Monty, gesturing at the clean white bandages that his hands have been swaddled in. Harper lets out a startled snort of laughter that is less to do with any actual humour and more just surprise at the joke. Echo looks completely baffled.

 

“I think they’re mostly so I don’t irritate them anymore,” Monty sighs. “I scratched it all open earlier.” Jasper opens his mouth to ask a question, but Monty cuts him off. “I only sort of meant to. I wasn’t really thinking.”

 

“You better stop messing with them. I taught you how to be an engineer with one hand, I can’t teach you how to do it with none.” Emori jumps to sit on the edge of the bed. Monty cracks a smile at that. The colour is returning to his face.

 

“Monty, you’re staying indoors tonight. You got far too cold outdoors, we need you in the warm. I’ll check on your hands again in the morning.” Jackson cuts through the group and presses a small pill into Monty’s hand. “To help you sleep. Someone should stay with you for the night.”

 

“Jasper,” Monty says, and no one looks particularly surprised. Miller ruffles Monty’s hair and whispers something to him, then Jackson beckons them to follow him. The others disperse, realising that there’s nothing more they can do to help right now.

 

Jasper hates the room straight away. It’s nice enough in terms of rooms he supposes, but there are two small single beds and it’s all dark and the air is still. He’d much rather be in the rover right now, but there’s no way he’s leaving Monty on his own again. He swallows back the claustrophobia and watches Monty gingerly getting into the bed, trying to avoid using his hands. “You really scared me earlier,” he says softly.

 

“I know,” Monty replies. “I was gonna come back like I told Murphy, but- I don’t know, I couldn’t. Octavia just made me realise how screwed up I am.”

 

“You’re not screwed up.”

 

“I killed my mother. I spent six years grieving someone who wasn’t dead. I fucked everything up with Harper and broke her heart. It’s fucked up!”

 

“Well. I survived a suicide attempt and spent 6 years living with a girl who tried to end the human race and a kid who barely remembers the world before it ended. I don’t think either of us, or anyone here for that matter, have any concept of normal anymore.”

 

There’s a gentle knock on the door. Jasper’s about to answer before the person opens it anyway. Raven, Luna, and Madi are in the doorway. He notices that Raven and Luna are holding hands. “Raven told us what happened,” Luna explains. “Madi insisted we come to say goodnight.”

 

“Goodnight, Madi!” Jasper says, patting her shoulder. Monty waves, and Madi stares wide-eyed at the bandages on his hands. She’s old enough to know not to comment, but Jasper can see the curiosity on her face.

 

“I just saw Octavia,” Luna tells them.

 

“What did she say?” Jasper asks, heart sinking at the thought of more drama.

 

“She said ‘sorry for stabbing you’.”

 

Jasper snorts. “She actually took my advice? What did you say?”

 

“That if she hadn’t, the human race would have died. She was right. I needed to be stopped.”

 

“Glad you moved past that,” he jokes, and she smiles.

 

“We’re going to bed,” Raven cuts in. “Night, guys.”

 

“See ya tomorrow,” Monty says faintly. Whatever Jackson gave him is starting to kick in, and he looks seconds from falling asleep. Jasper says goodnight to them and shuts the door.

 

“Jasper?” Monty’s voice drifts up from the bed.

 

“Yeah, sleepyhead?”

 

“What does _ai niron_ mean? Echo never taught me that one.”

 

“If she did, I’d have to challenge her to a duel. It means ‘my lover’.”

 

“Oh. That’s nice,” Monty whispers, and then he’s asleep. Jasper watches him breathe for a few moments before settling into the other bed. He doesn’t sleep well that night.

 

*

Monty is still asleep when he wakes up the next morning. The sleeping pills are pretty heavy duty, but he already looks better for the rest. Jasper is saved having to leave him alone when Clarke drops in the next morning with breakfast for them. It’s something weird that’s come out of a can, and Jasper much prefers the fruit he’s been living off. “Is Bellamy okay?” he asks, setting the other plate down next to Monty’s bed. “He wasn’t so great yesterday.”

 

“He’s alright,” Clarke shrugs. “I think you helped.” She glances over at Monty. “Bellamy just worries a lot, and Monty’s a bit more vulnerable than the rest of us. You too.”

 

“You two are our parents, you know that, right?” Jasper grins.

 

“You make me feel so old,” Clarke sighs. “I hope we can talk more soon. I think I maybe have a lot to make up for.”

 

“The tasering?” He’s teasing, but Clarke grimaces.

 

“Yeah, Monty really ripped into me about that.”

 

“I wasn’t exactly being easy to handle,” he shrugs. “Can we just say that was a bad time for everyone?”

 

“Agreed,” Clarke smiles. “I need to go find my mom. Talk soon?”

 

“Talk soon,” he replies, and Clarke’s off again. He has no idea what she actually does with all her time, but she seems busy, so he leaves her to it. By the time he finishes his breakfast, Monty is stirring. “Hey, you,” he says idly.

 

“Mmf,” Monty replies. He’s never been much of a morning person. “Morning.” He struggles into sitting up. The dark shadows under his eyes are mostly gone, but his hair is sticking up all over the place.

 

“Clarke left some breakfast for you,” Jasper nods at the plate on the bedside table.

 

“There is no way that will make it safely to my mouth,” Monty says miserably, nodding at his bandaged hands.

 

“I got ya,” Jasper says, making his way over to Monty’s bed and picking up the plate.

 

“I feel like a baby,” Monty groans.

 

“It’s just until you get the bandages off. You can pick stuff up then, can’t you?”

 

“Yeah, it’s just cutlery and peeling stuff that gets me.” Monty shakes his head. “Also, I know exactly what you’re thinking and don’t you dare start playing the aeroplane game with that food.”

 

“ _Nyoom_ ,” Jasper says, mock sadly as he helps Monty eat. “It’s a good game, Monts.”

 

Jackson isn’t in his office when they drop by a few minutes later, so Jasper decides they’re going outside. In the spirit of the wildly inconsistent weather post-Praimfaya, it’s warm and sunny. He spots a few people he knows straight away. Murphy and Emori are sat against a tree, Emori’s head on Murphy’s shoulder. Raven and Luna are perching on the rubble Jasper had been on the day before. Even Harper and Echo are trying to spar, but Harper is laughing too much to get any actual hits in, and Echo seems reluctant to play dirty, hanging back with a small, fond smile.

 

This world is nothing like the one Jasper had tried to leave 6 years ago. It’s so much better, and as he slings an arm around Monty and shields his eyes from the sun, he thinks this is where he was meant to be all along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's it! a couple of thank yous to shoot through for everyone who has left kudos, a comment, or messaged me on my tumblr(which is spacekru-monty because monty is my brand)! even more thanks to the people who've commented on every single chapter, holy fuck you guys, the people of the Space Family Squad gc who read this and talked hcs with me for literal hours, and ella, who is probably the reason i even finished this. i love you people. this is the first multichapter piece i've finished and there may be more on the way. shoot me requests if you want :)
> 
> jasper is not dead and monty likes boys goodnight

**Author's Note:**

> gyon op= get up
> 
>  
> 
> tumblr: mikewheelerprotectionsquad
> 
> come say hi!


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